Bill Text: NJ A3905 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Revises animal cruelty offenses and penalties concerning animal abandonment and failure to report injuring certain animals with a motor vehicle; increases civil penalties for certain other animal cruelty offenses.*
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-05-09 - Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee [A3905 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A3905-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman NELSON T. ALBANO
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Revises animal cruelty offenses concerning animal abandonment and failure to report injuring certain animals with a motor vehicle, and the penalties therefor.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning abandonment of animals and failure to report injury to certain animals in certain circumstances, amending various parts of statutory law, supplementing chapter 22 of Title 4 of the Revised Statutes, and repealing R.S.4:22-20 and section 2 of P.L.1939, c.315 (C.4:22-25.2).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. A person is guilty of animal abandonment if the person, with the purpose of relinquishing possession of the animal and without making provisions for the minimum care of the animal, knowingly leaves, or causes to be left, a domesticated animal:
(1) in a public place where the animal may die and the animal is maimed, sick, infirm or disabled; or
(2) in a place beyond the control, custody or possession of the owner or the person relinquishing possession of the animal.
Animal abandonment is a crime of the fourth degree.
b. Each animal abandoned in violation of this section shall constitute a separate offense.
c. In addition to the penalties and remedies prescribed for violations of this section pursuant to Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes, a person found guilty of violating subsection a. or b. of this section shall be subject to an additional fine of $1,000 for each animal abandoned that is:
(1) maimed, sick, infirm or disabled; or
(2) left within 200 feet of a roadway.
2. The title to part B of article 2 of chapter 22 of Title 4 of the Revised Statutes is amended to read as follows:
B. [MISDEMEANORS AND FINES] CRIMINAL OFFENSES AND PENALTIES; PROHIBITED METHODS FOR DESTRUCTION OF ANIMALS.
(cf: Title, part B, article 2, chapter 22, Title 4 of the Revised Statutes)
3. Section 1 of P.L.1939, c.315 (C.4:22-25.1) is amended to read as follows:
1. [Each] Any person operating a motor vehicle who [shall] knowingly [hit, run over, or cause] hits, runs over or causes injury to a cat, dog, horse [or] , cattle, or other domesticated animal shall stop at once, ascertain the extent of injury, report to the nearest police station, police officer, or notify the nearest Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and give his name, address, operator's license and registration number, and also give the location of the injured animal. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a disorderly persons offense.
(cf: P.L.1968, c.39, s.1)
4. The title to part C of article 2 of chapter 22 of Title 4 of the Revised Statutes is amended to read as follows:
C. CIVIL PENALTIES; RECOVERY.
(cf: Title, part C, article 2, chapter 22, Title 4 of the Revised Statutes)
5. R.S.4:22-26 is amended to read as follows:
4:22-26. A person who shall:
a. (1) Overdrive, overload, drive when overloaded, overwork, deprive of necessary sustenance, abuse, or needlessly kill a living animal or creature, or cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, any such acts to be done;
(2) Torment, torture, maim, hang, poison, unnecessarily or cruelly beat, or needlessly mutilate a living animal or creature, or cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, any such acts to be done;
(3) Cruelly kill, or cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, the cruel killing of, a living animal or creature, or otherwise cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, the death of a living animal or creature from commission of any act described in paragraph (2) of this subsection;
b. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2003, c.232).
c. Inflict unnecessary cruelty upon a living animal or creature, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature; or unnecessarily fail to provide a living animal or creature of which the person has charge either as an owner or otherwise with proper food, drink, shelter or protection from the weather; or leave it unattended in a vehicle under inhumane conditions adverse to the health or welfare of the living animal or creature;
d. Receive or offer for sale a horse that is suffering from abuse or neglect, or which by reason of disability, disease, abuse or lameness, or any other cause, could not be worked, ridden or otherwise used for show, exhibition or recreational purposes, or kept as a domestic pet without violating the provisions of this article;
e. Keep, use, be connected with or interested in the management of, or receive money or other consideration for the admission of a person to, a place kept or used for the purpose of fighting or baiting a living animal or creature;
f. Be present and witness, pay admission to, encourage, aid or assist in an activity enumerated in subsection e. of this section;
g. Permit or suffer a place owned or controlled by [him] the person to be used as provided in subsection e. of this section;
h. Carry, or cause to be carried, a living animal or creature in or upon a vehicle or otherwise, in a cruel or inhumane manner;
i. Use a dog or dogs for the purpose of drawing or helping to draw a vehicle for business purposes;
j. Impound or confine or cause to be impounded or confined in a pound or other place a living animal or creature, and shall fail to supply it during such confinement with a sufficient quantity of good and wholesome food and water;
k. [Abandon] Leave, or cause to be left, a maimed, sick, infirm or disabled domesticated animal [or creature to die] in a public place where the animal may die;
l. Willfully sell, or offer to sell, use, expose, or cause or permit to be sold or offered for sale, used or exposed, a horse or other animal having the disease known as glanders or farcy, or other contagious or infectious disease dangerous to the health or life of human beings or animals, or who shall, when any such disease is beyond recovery, refuse, upon demand, to deprive the animal of life;
m. Own, operate, manage or conduct a roadside stand or market for the sale of merchandise along a public street or highway; or a shopping mall, or a part of the premises thereof; and keep a living animal or creature confined, or allowed to roam in an area whether or not the area is enclosed, on these premises as an exhibit; except that this subsection shall not be applicable to: a pet shop licensed pursuant to P.L.1941, c.151 (C.4:19-15.1 et seq.); a person who keeps an animal, in a humane manner, for the purpose of the protection of the premises; or a recognized breeders' association, a 4-H club, an educational agricultural program, an equestrian team, a humane society or other similar charitable or nonprofit organization conducting an exhibition, show or performance;
n. Keep or exhibit a wild animal at a roadside stand or market located along a public street or highway of this State; a gasoline station; or a shopping mall, or a part of the premises thereof;
o. Sell, offer for sale, barter or give away or display live baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or rabbits, turtles or chameleons which have been dyed or artificially colored or otherwise treated so as to impart to them an artificial color;
p. Use any animal, reptile, or fowl for the purpose of soliciting any alms, collections, contributions, subscriptions, donations, or payment of money except in connection with exhibitions, shows or performances conducted in a bona fide manner by recognized breeders' associations, 4-H clubs or other similar bona fide organizations;
q. Sell or offer for sale, barter, or give away living rabbits, turtles, baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl under two months of age, for use as household or domestic pets;
r. Sell, offer for sale, barter or give away living baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl, or rabbits, turtles or chameleons under two months of age for any purpose not prohibited by subsection q. of this section and who shall fail to provide proper facilities for the care of such animals;
s. Artificially mark sheep or cattle, or cause them to be marked, by cropping or cutting off both ears, cropping or cutting either ear more than one inch from the tip end thereof, or half cropping or cutting both ears or either ear more than one inch from the tip end thereof, or who shall have or keep in the person's possession sheep or cattle, which the person claims to own, marked contrary to this subsection unless they were bought in market or of a stranger;
t. [Abandon] Leave, or cause to be left, a domesticated animal in a place beyond the control, custody, or possession of the owner or the person relinquishing possession of the animal;
u. For amusement or gain, cause, allow, or permit the fighting or baiting of a living animal or creature;
v. Own, possess, keep, train, promote, purchase, or knowingly sell a living animal or creature for the purpose of fighting or baiting that animal or creature;
w. Gamble on the outcome of a fight involving a living animal or creature;
x. Knowingly sell or barter or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, the fur or hair of a domestic dog or cat or any product made in whole or in part from the fur or hair of a domestic dog or cat, unless such fur or hair for sale or barter is from a commercial grooming establishment or a veterinary office or clinic or is for use for scientific research;
y. (1) Knowingly sell or barter, or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, for human consumption, the flesh of a domestic dog or cat, or any product made in whole or in part from the flesh of a domestic dog or cat;
(2) Knowingly slaughter a horse for human consumption;
(3) Knowingly sell or barter, or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, for human consumption, the flesh of a horse, or any product made in whole or in part from the flesh of a horse, or knowingly accept or publish newspaper advertising that includes the offering for sale, trade, or distribution of any such item for human consumption;
(4) Knowingly transport a horse for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption;
(5) Knowingly transport horsemeat, or any product made in whole or in part from the flesh of a horse, for the purpose of human consumption;
z. Surgically debark or silence a dog in violation of section 1 or 2 of P.L.2002, c.102 (C.4:19-38 or C.4:19-39);
aa. Use a live pigeon, fowl or other bird for the purpose of a target, or to be shot at either for amusement or as a test of skill in marksmanship, except that this subsection and subsections bb. and cc. shall not apply to the shooting of game;
bb. Shoot at a bird used as described in subsection aa. of this section, or is a party to such shooting; or
cc. Lease a building, room, field or premises, or knowingly permit the use thereof for the purposes of subsection aa. or bb. of this section --
Shall forfeit and pay a sum according to the following schedule, to be sued for and recovered, with costs, in a civil action by any person in the name of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or a county society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, as appropriate, or, in the name of the municipality if brought by a certified animal control officer or animal cruelty investigator:
For a violation of subsection e., f., g., u., v., w., or z. of this section or of paragraph (3) of subsection a. of this section, or for a second or subsequent violation of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section, a sum of not less than $3,000 nor more than $5,000;
For a violation of subsection l. of this section or for a first violation of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section, a sum of not less than $1,000 nor more than $3,000;
For a violation of subsection x. or paragraph (1) of subsection y. of this section, a sum of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 for each domestic dog or cat fur or fur or hair product or domestic dog or cat carcass or meat product sold, bartered, or offered for sale or barter;
For a violation of paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (5) of subsection y. of this section, a sum of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 for each horse slaughtered or transported for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption, or for each horse carcass or meat product transported, sold or bartered, or offered or advertised for sale or barter;
For a violation of subsection t. of this section, a sum of not less than [$500] $1,500 nor more than [$1,000] $3,000, but if the violation occurs on or near a highway, [a mandatory] an additional sum of $1,000;
For a violation of subsection c., d., h., j., k., aa., bb., or cc. of this section or of paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section, a sum of not less than [$250] $500 nor more than [$1,000] $2,500; and
For a violation of subsection i.,
m., n., o., p., q., r., or s. of this
section, a sum of not less than $250 nor more than $500.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.52, s.2)
6. Section 1 of P.L.1995, c.255 (C.4:22‑26.1) is amended to read as follows:
1. [An] A humane law enforcement officer or an agent of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or a county society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, an animal cruelty investigator, or a certified animal control officer, may petition [a court of competent jurisdiction] the Superior Court or a municipal court, as appropriate, to have [any animal] confiscated [and forfeited] , pending the disposition of an alleged animal cruelty violation, any animal that is owned or possessed by a person charged with the animal cruelty violation, and have the animal forfeited at the time the person is found to be guilty of violating [R.S.4:22‑17, R.S.4:22‑18, R.S.4:22‑19, R.S.4:22‑20 or R.S.4:22‑23] any animal cruelty provision of chapter 19 or 22 of Title 4 of the Revised Statutes, or liable for a civil penalty pursuant to R.S.4:22-26.
Upon a finding that the continued possession by that person poses a threat to the [animal's] welfare of the animal, the court may, in addition to any other penalty that may be imposed for a violation of [R.S.4:22‑17, R.S.4:22‑18, R.S.4:22‑19, R.S.4:22‑20 or R.S.4:22‑23] chapter 19 or 22 of Title 4 of the Revised Statutes, including but not limited to, R.S.4:22-26, adjudge an animal forfeited for such disposition as the court deems appropriate.
(cf: P.L.1995, c.255, s.1)
7. R.S.4:22-20 and section 2 of P.L.1939, c.315 (C.4:22-25.2) are hereby repealed.
8. (New section) Notwithstanding the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) to the contrary, any violations or offenses committed, or in the process of being adjudicated under R.S.4:22-20 or section 2 of P.L.1939, c.315 (C.4:22-25.2) on or before the date of enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), shall be adjudicated pursuant to those laws, as applicable.
9. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill revises the animal cruelty statutes concerning animal abandonment, increases civil penalties for animal cruelty, and updates statutes and statutory titles in the animal cruelty law to reflect changes made by the bill and the current allocation of offenses. The bill revises the criminal offense of animal abandonment and establishes it as a crime of the fourth degree, with an additional penalty of $1,000 for each animal abandoned that is maimed, sick, infirm or disabled, or left within 200 feet of a roadway. The civil penalty under the bill would be $500 to $3,000.
Under the bill, a person is guilty of the criminal offense of animal abandonment if the person, with the purpose of relinquishing possession of the animal and without making provisions for the minimum care of the animal, knowingly leaves, or causes to be left, a domesticated animal:
1) in a public place where the animal may die and the animal is maimed, sick, infirm or disabled; or
2) in a place beyond the control, custody or possession of the owner or the person relinquishing possession of the animal.
