Senate Bill No. 1395

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) begin delete of this section end delete
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
begin delete 1170, end delete begin insert 1170 for three, four, or six years, end insert or by a fine of not more
than begin delete twenty end delete begin insert forty end insert thousand dollars begin delete ($20,000), end delete begin insert ($40,000), end insert 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)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert 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:

begin delete

(1)

end delete

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

begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (B) end insert  Fully protected birds described in Section 3511 of the Fish
and Game Code.

begin delete

(3)

end delete

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

begin delete

(4)

end delete

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

begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (E) end insert  Fully protected fish as described in Section 5515 of the Fish
and Game Code.

begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert 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 any term of imprisonment
and any fine. This begin delete provision end delete begin insert subdivision end insert 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.