BILL NUMBER: AB 2743 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nava
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Section 1797.3 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to emergency medical services. An act
to add Section 1942.7 to the Civil Code, relating to rental property.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2743, as amended, Nava. Emergency medical services.
Real property: rentals: animals.
Existing law regulates the terms and conditions of residential
tenancies and governs the obligations of tenants and landlords under
a lease or tenancy.
This bill would prohibit a landlord, that allows a tenant to have
an animal on the premises, from advertising or establishing rental
policies in a manner that requires a tenant or a potential tenant
with an animal to have that animal debarked or declawed, for other
than therapeutic purposes, as a condition of occupancy. This bill
would impose a civil penalty of not more than $2,500, to be paid to
any individual harmed by a violation of these prohibitions.
Existing law establishes the Emergency Medical Services System and
the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, which governs
local emergency medical service systems.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the act.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares:
(a) Declawing cats and other animals, which is primarily done for
the purpose of limiting an animal's ability to scratch people and
furnishings, is cruel and unnecessary.
(b) Scientific studies have shown that declawed cats have a
tendency to bite more often than cats that have not been declawed,
and that declawed cats are also more likely to urinate and defecate
outside of their litter boxes than cats that have not been declawed,
an outcome that does not support the intended purpose of declawing an
animal in order to protect people and furnishings.
(c) Therefore, it follows that declawing cats makes an animal more
likely to lose its home because of the unintended behavioral
problems that are often exhibited in animals that have been declawed.
SEC. 2. Section 1942.7 is added to the
Civil Code , to read:
1942.7. (a) It is illegal for a landlord that allows a tenant to
have an animal on the premises to do any of the following:
(1) Advertise, through any means, the availability of real
property for occupancy by a tenant in a manner designed to discourage
application for occupancy of that real property because the
potential tenant's animal has not been debarked or declawed.
(2) Refuse to allow the occupancy of any real property, refuse to
negotiate the occupancy of any real property, or to otherwise make
unavailable or deny to any tenant the occupancy of any real property
because of that tenant's refusal to debark or declaw any animal.
(3) Require any present or potential tenant to debark or to declaw
any animal as a condition of applying for occupancy, the right of
occupancy, or continued occupancy of any real property.
(4) Give preferential treatment in the terms of the right of
occupancy or the provision of services to present or potential
tenants whose animals have been debarked or declawed.
(5) Discriminate in the terms of occupancy or the provision of
services against present or potential tenants whose animals have not
been debarked or declawed.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Animal" means any mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian.
(2) "Application for occupancy" means all phases of the process of
applying for the right to occupy real property, including, but not
limited to, filling out applications, interviewing, and submitting
references.
(3) "Claw" means a hardened keratinized modification of the
epidermis, or a hardened keratinized growth, that extends from the
end of the digits of certain mammals, birds, reptiles, and
amphibians, often commonly referred to as a "claw," "talon," or
"nail."
(4) "Debarking" means performing, procuring, or arranging for any
surgical procedure such as a vocal cordectomy, to remove an animal's
vocal chords or to prevent the normal function of an animal's vocal
chords.
(5) "Declawing" means performing, procuring, or arranging for any
surgical procedure, such as an onychectomy, tendonectomy, or
phalangectomy, to remove or to prevent the normal function of an
animal's claw or claws.
(6) "Landlord" means an owner, property manager, or other entity,
including their agents or successors in interest, having the
authority to establish occupancy rights in another, to terminate
occupancy rights in another, or to provide or manage services as to
any real property. "Landlord" also includes tenants who become
landlords due to subdividing, subleasing, or assigning their
occupancy rights to another. "Landlord" also includes those who
invite others to share real property they occupy.
(7) "Occupancy" means the right to occupy or actual occupancy of
any real property with or without any kind of payment for the right
to occupy premises owned by another.
(8) "Tenant" means a person or entity occupying the real property
owned by another.
(9) (A) "Therapeutic purpose" means the necessity to address the
medical condition of an animal, such as an existing or recurring
illness, infection, disease, injury, or abnormal condition that
compromises the animal's health.
(B) "Therapeutic purpose" does not include cosmetic or aesthetic
reasons, or reasons of perceived need or convenience in keeping or
handling the animal.
(c) This section does not apply if the debarking or declawing of
an animal is required to be performed for a therapeutic purpose.
(d) In addition to any other penalty allowed by law, violation of
this section shall result in a civil penalty of not more than two
thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) to be paid to any individual
harmed by the violation of this section.
SECTION 1. Section 1797.3 of the Health and
Safety Code is amended to read:
1797.3. This division does not preclude the adoption of
additional training standards for EMT-II and EMT-P personnel by local
EMS agencies, consistent with standards adopted pursuant to Sections
1797.171, 1797.172, and 1797.214.