BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1363
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1363 (Salas) - As Amended March 26, 2015
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|Policy |Agriculture |Vote:|9 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill adds "other livestock animals" to the list of animals
defined as estray (which includes bovines, horses, mules, sheep,
swine, and burros) when impounded or seized and the owner is
unknown, and makes other technical changes to the Food and
Agriculture Code.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Negligible costs to local law enforcement; likely minor and
AB 1363
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absorbable enforcement costs, if any, to the Department of Food
and Agriculture.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill expands the
definition of estray to better reflect additional domestic
animals popular with California farmers and ranchers,
including goats and alpacas. According to US Department of
Agriculture Census on Agriculture data from 2012, California
had more dairy goats than any state except Wisconsin, and
California's alpaca herds have grown substantially in the past
30 years.
2)Lord Blackstone's Lost Sheep. Under English common law, an
estray is any domestic animal found wandering or lost,
particularly if the owner is unknown. It usually refers to
domesticated animals and not pets. Under early common law,
estrays were forfeited to the king or lord of the manor, and
that lord or any other person taking up an estray was granted
a qualified property interest in the animal. Such property
interest became absolute if the owner failed to claim the
animal within a time limit. If the original owner did claim
the animal, he could still be liable to the finder for the
reasonable costs of maintaining the animal.
Analysis Prepared by:Joel Tashjian / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 1363
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