Bill Text: CA SB313 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Animals: prohibition on use in circuses.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-10-12 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 768, Statutes of 2019. [SB313 Detail]
Download: California-2019-SB313-Chaptered.html
Senate Bill
No. 313
CHAPTER 768
An act to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 2207) to Chapter 2 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to animals.
[
Approved by
Governor
October 12, 2019.
Filed with
Secretary of State
October 12, 2019.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 313, Hueso.
Animals: prohibition on use in circuses.
Existing law regulates the taking and possession of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, including the importation, transportation, possession, and live release of wild animals, as defined.
This bill would prohibit a person from sponsoring, conducting, or operating a circus, as defined, in this state that uses any animal other than a domestic dog, domestic cat, or domesticated horse. The bill would prohibit a person from exhibiting or using any animal other than a domestic dog, domestic cat, or domesticated horse in a circus in this state. The bill would authorize a civil penalty against a person who violates these prohibitions pursuant to an action brought by the Attorney General, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department of Food and Agriculture, a district attorney, a city attorney, or a city prosecutor. The bill would
specify how these civil penalty moneys would be deposited depending primarily on which entity brings the civil penalty action, including requiring the deposit of the moneys collected by the Department of Food and Agriculture into the Circus Cruelty Prevention Account, which the bill would create, with those moneys available upon appropriation for the purposes of the department’s enforcement of these prohibitions.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Article 5 (commencing with Section 2207) is added to Chapter 2 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, to read:Article 5. Circus Cruelty Prevention Act
2207.
This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Circus Cruelty Prevention Act.2208.
(a) For purposes of this article, except as provided in subdivision (b), the term “circus” means a performance before a live audience in which entertainment consisting of a variety of acts, such as acrobats, aerialists, clowns, jugglers, or stunts, is the primary attraction or principal business.(b) The term “circus” does not include a rodeo, as defined
in Section 596.7 of the Penal Code.
2209.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a person shall not sponsor, conduct, or operate a circus in this state that uses any animal other than a domestic dog, domestic cat, or domesticated horse.(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a person shall not exhibit or use any animal other than a domestic dog, domestic cat, or domesticated horse in a circus in this state.
2210.
(a) In addition to any other penalty provided by law, a person who violates this article, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this article, shall be liable for a civil penalty of no more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each day the person is in violation.(b) An action against a person who violates this article, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this article, may be brought by the Attorney General, the department,
the Department of Food and Agriculture, a district attorney, a city attorney, or a city prosecutor in a city or city and county that has a full-time city prosecutor.
(c) Civil penalties collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited according to the following:
(1) (A) Subject to subparagraph (B), moneys collected by the Attorney General shall be deposited in the General Fund.
(B) If the department, as the
investigating agency, refers the matter to the Attorney General for prosecution, 50 percent of the moneys collected shall be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and 50 percent shall be deposited in the General Fund.
(2) Moneys collected by the department shall be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. The moneys collected pursuant to this section shall be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for
law enforcement purposes.
(3) Moneys collected by the Department of Food and Agriculture shall be deposited in the Circus Cruelty Prevention Account, which is hereby created in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, created pursuant to Section 221 of the Food and Agricultural Code. Moneys in the Circus Cruelty Prevention Account shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Food and Agriculture for the purposes of enforcing this chapter.
(4) (A) Subject to subparagraph (B), moneys collected by a
district attorney, a city attorney, or a city prosecutor in a city or city and county that has a full-time city prosecutor shall be deposited in that city’s, county’s, or city and county’s general fund.
(B) If the department, as the investigating agency, refers the matter to the office of a prosecutor described in subparagraph (A), 50 percent of the moneys collected shall be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and 50 percent shall be deposited in the city’s, county’s, or city and county’s general fund.
