BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1162
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 9, 2012
Counsel: Gabriel Caswell
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 1162 (Runner) - As Amended: June 13, 2012
SUMMARY : Authorizes an animal control officer or humane officer
to possess and administer a tranquilizer that contains a
controlled substance to a wild, stray, or abandoned animal, as
specified, with indirect supervision as determined by a licensed
veterinarian, provided that the officer meets prescribed
training and other requirements. Specifically, this bill states
that if an animal control officer or humane officer, when
necessary to protect the health and safety of a wild, stray, or
abandoned animal or the health and safety of others, seeks to
administer a tranquilizer that contains a controlled substance
to gain control of that animal, he or she may possess and
administer that tranquilizer with direct or indirect supervision
as determined by a licensed veterinarian, provided that the
officer has met each of the following requirements:
1)Has received training in the administration of tranquilizers
from a licensed veterinarian. The training shall be approved
by the California Veterinary Medical Board.
2)Has successfully completed the firearms component of a course
relating to the exercise of police powers, as specified.
3)Is authorized by his or her agency or organization to possess
and administer the tranquilizer in accordance with a policy
established by the agency or organization and approved by the
veterinarian who obtained the controlled substance.
4)Has successfully completed the euthanasia training as
specified.
5)Has completed a state and federal fingerprinting background
check and does not have any drug- or alcohol-related
convictions.
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EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes any peace officer, humane society officer, or
animal control officer to take possession of a stray or
abandoned animal and to provide care and treatment for the
animal until the animal is deemed to be in suitable condition
to be returned to the owner and also authorizes the officer to
immediately seize the animal, as specified, if the officer has
reasonable grounds to believe that very prompt action is
required to protect the health or safety of the animal or the
health or safety of others. �Penal Code Section 597.1(a).]
2)Authorizes an officer to take charge of any animal, including
a dog or cat, that by reason of lameness, sickness,
feebleness, or neglect, is unfit for the labor it is
performing, or that in any manner is being cruelly treated,
and provide care and treatment for the animal until it is
deemed to be in a suitable condition to be returned to the
owner. �Penal Code Section 597.1(b).]
3)Provides that every sick, disabled, infirm, or crippled
animal, except a dog or cat, that is abandoned in any city,
county, city and county, or judicial district may be killed by
the officer if, after a reasonable search, no owner of the
animal can be found. However, it shall be the duty of all
officers to cause the animal to be killed or rehabilitated and
placed in a suitable home on information that the animal is a
stray or abandoned. �Penal Code Section 597.1(b).]
4)Provides that any officer shall convey all injured cats and
dogs found without their owners in a public place directly to
a veterinarian for a determination of whether the animal shall
be immediately and humanely destroyed or shall be hospitalized
under proper care and given emergency treatment. �Penal Code
Section 597.1(c)(1).]
5)Provides that any peace officer, humane society officer, or
any animal control officer may, with the approval of his or
her immediate superior, humanely destroy any stray or
abandoned animal in the field in any case where the animal is
too severely injured to move or where a veterinarian is not
available and it would be more humane to dispose of the
animal. �Penal Code Section 597.1(e).]
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6)Provides that animal control officers are not peace officers
but may exercise the powers of arrest, serve warrants, or
carry and use firearms if they receive the appropriate
training as specified. "Firearms" includes capture guns,
blowguns, carbon dioxide operated rifles and pistols, air
guns, handguns, rifles and shotguns. (Penal Code Section
830.9.)
7)Establishes the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act
which regulates controlled substances which are classified
according to the degrees of medical usefulness and are subject
to restrictions on their use and administration. (Health and
Safety Code Sections 11000 to 11651.)
8)Provides that except in the regular practice of his or her
profession (as a practitioner), no person shall knowingly
prescribe, administer, dispense, or furnish a controlled
substance to or for any person or animal, which is not under
his or her treatment for a pathology or condition other than
addiction to a controlled substance, except as otherwise
provided, and that no person shall knowingly solicit, direct,
induce, aid, or encourage a practitioner authorized to write a
prescription to unlawfully prescribe, administer, dispense,
or furnish a controlled substance. (Health and Safety Code
Section 11154.)
9)Defines a "practitioner" as (Health Safety Code Section
11026.):
a) A physician, dentist, veterinarian, podiatrist,
pharmacist, a registered or advanced registered nurse,
physician assistant, or optometrist acting within their
scope of practice as provided under the Business and
Professions Code.
b) A pharmacy, hospital, or other institution licensed,
registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense,
conduct research with respect to, or to administer, a
controlled substance in the course of professional practice
or research in California.
c) A scientific investigator, or other person licensed,
registered, or otherwise permitted, to distribute,
dispense, conduct research with respect to, or administer,
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a controlled substance in the course of professional
practice or research in California.
d) Specifies that only a practitioner including a
naturopathic doctor may write or issue a prescription as
permitted under the Business and Professions Code. (Health
and Safety Code Section 11150.)
10)Provides that a prescription for a controlled substance shall
only be issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an
individual practitioner acting in the usual course of his or
her professional practice. The responsibility for the proper
prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances is upon
the prescribing practitioner. (Health and Safety Code Section
11153.)
11)Makes possession of a controlled substance a felony unless
upon the written prescription of a physician, dentist,
podiatrist, or veterinarian licensed to practice in
California. (Health and Safety Code Section 11350.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "When necessary
to protect an animal or the safety of the public, animal
control officers are required to take possession of any stray
or abandoned animal and provide care and treatment for the
animal.
"Local animal control officers must sometimes use a controlled
substance to tranquilize and gain control an animal.
California law requires that such drugs be stored in a central
location and officers obtain contemporaneous authorization
from a licensed veterinarian prior to administering any drugs.
In practice, however, a licensed veterinarian is not always
available and the necessity of having a veterinarian supervise
when administering the drugs could jeopardize public safety.
"A recent Attorney General's decision indicates that prior
consultation with a licensed veterinarian is insufficient.
(Opinion 08-505, 12/23/11) Moreover, the AG's opinion finds
that 'the duties of local animal control officers, which
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consist of protecting animals and the public through the
enforcement of local animal control laws,' does not fit within
the context of current law.
"Animal control and humane officers must act quickly when
there is an emergency situation in the field in order to
capture injured animals or to protect the public from
dangerous animals. It is not always possible to immediately
determine whether or an animal is stray, abandoned or wild.
While animal control officers have general authority to kill
an injured animal or one posing an immediate threat to public
safety, this is a remedy of last resort. In the case of a
protected species, like a mountain lion, a depredation permit
may be required before killing the animal, which causes
further concerns.
"Limited authorization to use tranquilizers would be more
humane and would better protect public safety."
2)Attorney General Opinion : A recent Attorney General's (AG)
Opinion (Opinion 08-505, 12/23/11) stated that California law
requires that an animal control officer must take possession
of an animal that he or she reasonably believes is a stray or
has been abandoned by its owner, and must provide care and
treatment for the animal until it is in a fit condition to be
returned to its owner, or place for adoption. An animal
control officer may also seize an animal when reasonably
necessary to protect the safety of the animal or the public,
and that he or she may destroy an animal when circumstances
require, for example when an animal is too severely injured to
move and it would be more humane to destroy it. Although they
are not peace officers, animal control officers may, under
specified circumstances, exercise powers of arrest, carry and
use firearms, and serve warrants.
The AG Opinion further pointed out animal control officers
must often react swiftly to emergency situations in the field
in order to capture injured animals or to protect the public
from rabid or otherwise dangerous, domesticated or wild
animals such as dogs, foxes, and coyotes, as well as from
inherently dangerous wild animals, such as mountain lions and
bears. In many cases, it is necessary to use controlled
substances (which are stored securely in a city's or county's
animal control shelter) to subdue an animal. However, prior
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to any use of drugs, animal control officers must obtain
authorization from a designated licensed veterinarian.
The AG Opinion indicates that they have been told that in
practice a licensed veterinarian is not always available for
consultation when an animal-control emergency arises.
Moreover, the necessity of retrieving controlled substances
from a central location and of waiting for them to be brought
into the field can create delays that may be detrimental to
the public's health and safety.
The AG was asked to determine whether an animal control
officer may ever lawfully administer a controlled substance on
his or her own authority to subdue wild or dangerous animals
without the contemporaneous consultation of a licensed
veterinarian. The AG concluded that the applicable statutory
scheme does not give animal control officers independent
authority to administer controlled substances. The AG opined
that the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act
prohibits the possession of a controlled substance, unless
upon the written prescription of a licensed practitioner, as
defined, or the administering of this type of drug in the
field by an animal control officer without first
contemporaneously consulting and receiving direction from a
licensed veterinarian.
However, the AG did indicate (as a footnote) that they
understand the practice and need for animal control officers
in some local jurisdictions to administer controlled
substances in the field without contemporaneous consultation
with licensed veterinarians, and the reasons why this is done
stem directly from the difficulties encountered in trying to
manage extreme and dangerous emergencies where time is of the
essence; and the only other alternative may be to destroy the
animal in question. The AG states, "This opinion concludes
that this practice does not comport with current law. In view
of the asserted need for more humane alternatives, the
Legislature may wish to consider examining the circumstances
confronting local jurisdictions to determine whether
adjustments in the law are in order to ensure that the option
of tranquilization will be available as an alternative to
destroying the animals. Development of such a policy is,
however, beyond the scope of this opinion."
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3)Argument in Support : According to the City of Hesperia ,
"Tranquilizer guns have been used for decades without question
by both local and state animal control agencies (including
State Department of Fish and Game). Over the years, the City
of Hesperia has regularly consulted with and received guidance
on the use of tranquilizers which have been prescribed by and
acquired through our contracted veterinarian. Until recently,
we believed that as long as our animal control officers used
the tranquilizer in accordance with the prior instructions of
the veterinarian, they were in compliance with the law."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Veterinary Medical Association
City of Adelanto
City of Hesperia
City of Palmdale
League of California Cities
Santa Clara County
Town of Apple Valley
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744