Amended in Assembly March 17, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2052

Introduced by Assembly Member Williams

February 17, 2016

An act to begin delete amend Section 597 of end delete begin insert add Section 597.8 to end insert the Penal Code, relating to crimes.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2052, as amended, Williams. Animal cruelty.

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Existing law makes it a crime, punishable as specified, to commit various forms of animal abuse, including maliciously or intentionally maiming or killing an animal and dogfighting.

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This bill would require, upon conviction of specified types of animal abuse but prior to sentencing, the court to order the person convicted to submit to a psychiatric or psychological examination, to be provided and paid for by the court. The bill would require the court to consider the result of the examination in determining a sentence.

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Existing law makes it a crime, punishable as specified, to maliciously and intentionally maim, mutilate, torture, or wound a living animal, or maliciously and intentionally kill an animal. Existing law also makes it a crime, punishable as specified, to overdrive, overload, drive when overloaded, overwork, torture, torment, deprive of necessary sustenance, drink, or shelter, cruelly beat, mutilate, or cruelly kill an animal.

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This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

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

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

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 597.8 is added to the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

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begin insert 597.8. end insert   

Upon conviction pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of
Section 597 or Section 597a, 597b, 597h, 597j, 597s, or 597.1, but
prior to sentencing, the court shall order the person convicted to
submit to a psychiatric or psychological examination. All
examinations shall be provided and paid for by the court. The
results of the examination shall be sent by the examining
psychologist or psychiatrist to the court and to the attorneys for
the prosecution and the defense. The court shall consider the
results of the examination in determining a sentence.

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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 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) Every 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)  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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 a term of imprisonment and a fine. This
provision 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.

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