California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2052

Introduced by Assembly Member Williams

February 17, 2016

An act to amend Section 597 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2052, as introduced, Williams. Animal cruelty.

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.

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

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

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, begin delete every end delete begin insert a end insert 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), begin delete every end delete
begin insert a end insert person who overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded,
overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance,
drink, or shelter, cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert
animal, or causes or procures begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert 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 begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert animal, either as owner or
otherwise, subjects begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert animal to needless suffering, or inflicts
unnecessary cruelty upon the animal, or in any manner abuses begin delete any end delete
begin insert an end insert 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 begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert 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 begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert mammal, bird, reptile,
amphibian, or fish begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert 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 begin delete provisions of end delete
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 begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert 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 begin delete provision of end delete 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 begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert term of imprisonment
and begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert 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.