BILL NUMBER: SB 1395 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Stone
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 597 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1395, as introduced, Stone. Crimes: animal 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 instead make a felony violation of the provisions
described above punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3,
or 4 years, or by a fine of not more than $40,000, or by both that
fine and imprisonment. By increasing the penalties for existing
crimes, 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: 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, every 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),
every a person who overdrives,
overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, torments,
deprives of necessary sustenance, drink, or shelter, cruelly beats,
mutilates, or cruelly kills any an
animal, or causes or procures any 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 any
an animal, either as owner or otherwise,
subjects any an animal to needless
suffering, or inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the animal, or in any
manner abuses any 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 any 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, 1170 for three, four, or six years,
or by a fine of not more than twenty
forty thousand dollars ($20,000),
($40,000), 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) (1) Subdivision (c) applies to
any a mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish
which that is a creature described as
follows:
(1)
(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.
(2)
(B) Fully protected birds described in Section 3511 of
the Fish and Game Code.
(3)
(C) Fully protected mammals described in Chapter 8
(commencing with Section 4700) of Part 3 of Division 4 of the Fish
and Game Code.
(4)
(D) Fully protected reptiles and amphibians described
in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 5050) of Division 5 of the Fish
and Game Code.
(5)
(E) Fully protected fish as described in Section 5515
of the Fish and Game Code.
(2) This subdivision does not supersede or
affect any provisions of 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
any 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 provision of 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 provision 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.