Amended in Assembly June 23, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1543

Introduced by Assembly Member Brough

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Hadley)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Harper and O'Donnell)

(Coauthor: Senator Bates)

May 20, 2015

An act to amend Section 597 of the Penal Code, relating to animals, begin delete making an appropriation therefor, end delete and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1543, as amended, Brough. Animals: abuse.

Existing law prohibits, subject to exceptions, specified acts of animal abuse including, among others, the malicious and intentional maiming, mutilation, torture, or wounding of a living animal. Under existing law, a violation of those provisions is punishable as a felony by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years, or by a fine of not more than $20,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment, or alternatively, as a misdemeanor by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than $20,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

This bill would require a person who violates the animal abuse prohibitions described above to be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 for each violation, in addition to the fines described above. The bill would require those additional fines to be begin delete deposited into the Victims of Animal Abuse Fund, which would be established by the bill. The bill would require the Veterinary Medical Board to administer the fund, and would continuously appropriate all money deposited in the fund to the board for the bill’s purposes. end delete begin insert paid to the local public animal control agency that has jurisdiction over the location where the violation occurred. end insert The bill would generally require the begin delete board end delete begin insert agency end insert to use the begin delete money in the fund end delete begin insert moneys paid as a fine end insert to compensate the owner or caretaker of an animal that requires medical care, rehabilitation, or recovery as a result of a violation of the animal abuse prohibitions described above for the costs incurred by the owner or caretaker for the animal’s medical care, rehabilitation, or recovery. The bill would also require, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, a person who violates the animal abuse prohibitions described above in a rehabilitative facility for animals to pay for and successfully complete an appropriate counseling course, as determined by the court, designed to evaluate and treat behavior or conduct disorders. The bill would define “rehabilitative facility for animals” for these purposes as a facility at which medical care or rehabilitative services are provided to animals, including, but not limited to, an animal sanctuary, animal shelter, or aquarium. By increasing the penalties for existing begin delete crimes, end delete begin insert crimes and increasing the duties of a public animal control agency relative to the use of the moneys paid as a fine, end insert the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

end delete begin delete

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

end delete begin insert

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

end insert begin insert

This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

end insert begin insert

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

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This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert . Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 597 of the Penal Code is amended to
read:

597.  

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c) of this section
or Section 599c, a person who maliciously and intentionally maims,
mutilates, tortures, or wounds a living animal, or maliciously and
intentionally kills an animal, is guilty of a crime punishable
pursuant to subdivision (d).

(b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (a) or (c), a
person who overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded,
overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance,
drink, or shelter, cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills an animal,
or causes or procures an animal to be so overdriven, overloaded,
driven when overloaded, overworked, tortured, tormented, deprived
of necessary sustenance, drink, shelter, or to be cruelly beaten,
mutilated, or cruelly killed; and whoever, having the charge or
custody of an animal, either as an owner or otherwise, subjects an
animal to needless suffering, or inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon
the animal, or in any manner abuses an animal, or fails to provide
the animal with proper food, drink, or shelter or protection from
the weather, or who drives, rides, or otherwise uses the animal
when unfit for labor, is, for each offense, guilty of a crime
punishable pursuant to subdivision (d).

(c) A person who maliciously and intentionally maims,
mutilates, or tortures a mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish,
as described in subdivision (e), is guilty of a crime punishable
pursuant to subdivision (d).

(d) (1) A violation of subdivision (a), (b), or (c) is punishable
as a felony by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section
1170, or by a fine of not more than twenty thousand dollars
($20,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, or alternatively,
as a misdemeanor by imprisonment in a county jail for not more
than one year, or by a fine of not more than twenty thousand dollars
($20,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(2) (A) A person who violates subdivision (a), (b), or (c) shall,
in addition to the fines imposed pursuant to paragraph (1), be
punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000)
for each violation.

(B) The fines required by subparagraph (A) shall be begin delete deposited
into the Victims of Animal Abuse Fund, which is hereby
established in the State Treasury. For purposes of this paragraph,
“fund” means the Victims of Animal Abuse Fund. end delete begin insert paid to the local
public animal control agency that has jurisdiction in the location
where the violation was committed. end insert

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(C) The Veterinary Medical Board shall administer the fund
consistent with this paragraph. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of
the Government Code, all money deposited in the fund is hereby
continuously appropriated to the Veterinary Medical Board, without
regard to fiscal years, for the purposes of this paragraph.

end delete begin delete

(D)

end delete

begin insert (C) end insert  Except as provided in subparagraph (E), the begin delete Veterinary
Medical Board end delete begin insert local public animal control agency end insert shall use the
begin delete money in the fund end delete begin insert moneys paid as a fine pursuant subparagraph
(A) end insert to compensate the owner or caretaker, including a nonprofit
organization, of an animal that requires medical care, rehabilitation,
or recovery as a result of a violation of subdivision (a), (b), or (c)
for the costs incurred by the owner or caretaker for the animal’s
medical care, rehabilitation, or recovery.

begin delete

(E)

end delete

begin insert (D) end insert  (i) If the owner or caretaker of an animal that requires
medical care, rehabilitation, or recovery as a result of a violation
of subdivision (a), (b), or (c) is the person who violated any of
those subdivisions, the owner or caretaker shall not receive money
from the begin delete fund, end delete begin insert local public animal control agency, end insert and instead,
begin delete money in the fund end delete begin insert moneys paid to the agency as a fine pursuant
to subparagraph (A) end insert may be used to compensate another person,
including a nonprofit organization, who incurs costs for the
animal’s medical care, rehabilitation, or recovery.

(ii) If an animal that requires medical care, rehabilitation, or
recovery as a result of a violation of subdivision (a), (b), or (c) has
no identifiable owner or caretaker, begin delete money in the fund may be used end delete
begin insert the local public animal control agency may use moneys paid to
the agency as a fine pursuant to subparagraph (A) end insert to compensate
a person, including a nonprofit organization, who incurs costs for
the animal’s medical care, rehabilitation, or recovery.

begin delete

(F) The Veterinary Medical Board may promulgate regulations
to implement this paragraph.

end delete

(3) (A) Except as provided in subdivision (h), a person who
violates subdivision (a), (b), or (c) in a rehabilitative facility for
animals shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by law,
pay for and successfully complete an appropriate counseling course,
as determined by the court, designed to evaluate and treat behavior
or conduct disorders. If the court finds that a defendant is
financially unable to pay for that counseling, the court may develop
a sliding fee schedule based upon the defendant’s ability to pay.
An indigent defendant may negotiate a deferred payment schedule,
but shall pay a nominal fee if the defendant has the ability to pay
the nominal fee. If an indigent defendant cannot pay the nominal
fee, the fee shall be waived.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, “rehabilitative facility for
animals” means a facility at which medical care or rehabilitative
services are provided to animals, including, but not limited to, begin insert an end insert
animal sanctuary, animal shelter, or begin delete an end delete aquarium.

(e) (1) Subdivision (c) applies to a mammal, bird, reptile,
amphibian, or fish that is a creature described as follows:

(A) Endangered species or threatened species as described in
Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the
Fish and Game Code.

(B) Fully protected birds described in Section 3511 of the Fish
and Game Code.

(C) Fully protected mammals described in Chapter 8
(commencing with Section 4700) of Part 3 of Division 4 of the
Fish and Game Code.

(D) Fully protected reptiles and amphibians described in Chapter
2 (commencing with Section 5050) of Division 5 of the Fish and
Game Code.

(E) Fully protected fish as described in Section 5515 of the Fish
and Game Code.

(2) This subdivision does not supersede or affect any law relating
to taking of the described species, including, but not limited to,
Section 12008 of the Fish and Game Code.

(f) For the purposes of subdivision (c), each act of malicious
and intentional maiming, mutilating, or torturing a separate
specimen of a creature described in subdivision (e) is a separate
offense. If a person is charged with a violation of subdivision (c),
the proceedings shall be subject to Section 12157 of the Fish and
Game Code.

(g) (1) Upon the conviction of a person charged with a violation
of this section by causing or permitting an act of cruelty, as defined
in Section 599b, all animals lawfully seized and impounded with
respect to the violation by a peace officer, officer of a humane
society, or officer of a pound or animal regulation department of
a public agency shall be adjudged by the court to be forfeited and
shall thereupon be awarded to the impounding officer for proper
disposition. A person convicted of a violation of this section by
causing or permitting an act of cruelty, as defined in Section 599b,
shall be liable to the impounding officer for all costs of
impoundment from the time of seizure to the time of proper
disposition.

(2) Mandatory seizure or impoundment shall not apply to
animals in properly conducted scientific experiments or
investigations performed under the authority of the faculty of a
regularly incorporated medical college or university of this state.

(h) Notwithstanding any other law, if a defendant is granted
probation for a conviction under this section, the court shall order
the defendant to pay for, and successfully complete, counseling,
as determined by the court, designed to evaluate and treat behavior
or conduct disorders. If the court finds that the defendant is
financially unable to pay for that counseling, the court may develop
a sliding fee schedule based upon the defendant’s ability to pay.
An indigent defendant may negotiate a deferred payment schedule,
but shall pay a nominal fee if the defendant has the ability to pay
the nominal fee. County mental health departments or Medi-Cal
shall be responsible for the costs of counseling required by this
section only for those persons who meet the medical necessity
criteria for mental health managed care pursuant to Section
1830.205 of Title 9 of the California Code of Regulations or the
targeted population criteria specified in Section 5600.3 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code. The counseling specified in this
subdivision shall be in addition to any other terms and conditions
of probation, including any term of imprisonment and any fine.
This subdivision specifies a mandatory additional term of probation
and is not to be utilized as an alternative in lieu of imprisonment
pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 or county jail when
that sentence is otherwise appropriate. If the court does not order
custody as a condition of probation for a conviction under this
section, the court shall specify on the court record the reason or
reasons for not ordering custody. This subdivision shall not apply
to cases involving police dogs or horses as described in Section
600.

begin delete

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert begin insert

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain
costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.

end insert begin insert

However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement
to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

end insert

SEC. 3.  

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to provide victims of animal abuse with restitution for
the costs associated with medical care and recovery for animals
resulting from that abuse at the earliest possible time, it is necessary
for this act to take effect immediately.