BILL NUMBER: AB 1543 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 23, 2015
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, making an appropriation therefor, 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
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. paid to the local public animal control
agency that has jurisdiction over the location where the violation
occurred. The bill would generally require the board
agency to use the money in the fund
moneys paid as a fine 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 crimes,
crimes and increasing the duties of a public animal control agency
relative to the use of the moneys paid as a fine, the bill
would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
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.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
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.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes no .
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
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. paid to
the local public animal control agency that has jurisdiction in the
location where the violation was committed.
(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.
(D)
(C) Except as provided in subparagraph (E), the
Veterinary Medical Board local public animal
control agency shall use the money in the fund
moneys paid as a fine pursuant subparagraph (A)
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.
(E)
(D) (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 fund, local public animal
control agency, and instead, money in the fund
moneys paid to the agency as a fine pursuant to
subparagraph (A) 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, money in the fund
may be used the local public animal control agency may
use moneys paid to the agency as a fine pursuant to subparagraph (A)
to compensate a person, including a nonprofit organization,
who incurs costs for the animal's medical care, rehabilitation, or
recovery.
(F) The Veterinary Medical Board may promulgate regulations to
implement this paragraph.
(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,
an animal sanctuary, animal shelter, or an
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.
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.
SEC. 2. 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.
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.
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.