16102955D
HOUSE BILL NO. 958
Offered January 13, 2016
Prefiled January 12, 2016
A BILL to amend and reenact §3.2-6570 of the Code of
Virginia, relating to cruelty to animals.
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Patron-- Keam
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Committee Referral Pending
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §3.2-6570 of the Code of Virginia is amended and
reenacted as follows:
§3.2-6570. Cruelty to animals; penalty.
A. Any person who: (i)
overrides, overdrives, overloads, tortures, ill-treats, abandons, willfully
inflicts inhumane injury or pain not connected with bona fide scientific or
medical experimentation, or cruelly or unnecessarily beats, maims, mutilates,
or kills, including by drowning, any
animal, whether belonging to himself or another; (ii) deprives any animal of
necessary food, drink, shelter or emergency veterinary treatment; (iii) sores
any equine for any purpose or administers drugs or medications to alter or mask
such soring for the purpose of sale, show, or exhibition of any kind, unless
such administration of drugs or medications is within the context of a
veterinary client-patient relationship and solely for therapeutic purposes;
(iv) ropes, lassoes, or otherwise obstructs or interferes with one or more legs
of an equine in order to intentionally cause it to trip or fall for the purpose
of engagement in a rodeo, contest, exhibition, entertainment, or sport unless
such actions are in the practice of accepted animal husbandry or for the
purpose of allowing veterinary care; (v) willfully sets on foot, instigates,
engages in, or in any way furthers any act of cruelty to any animal; (vi)
carries or causes to be carried by any vehicle, vessel or otherwise any animal
in a cruel, brutal, or inhumane manner, so as to produce torture or unnecessary
suffering; or (vii) causes any of the above things, or being the owner of such
animal permits such acts to be done by another is guilty of a Class 1
misdemeanor.
In addition to the penalties provided in this subsection, the
court may, in its discretion, require any person convicted of a violation of this
subsection to attend an anger management or other appropriate treatment program
or obtain psychiatric or psychological counseling. The court may impose the
costs of such a program or counseling upon the person convicted.
B. Any person who: (i)
tortures, willfully inflicts inhumane injury or pain not connected with bona
fide scientific or medical experimentation, or cruelly and unnecessarily beats,
maims, mutilates or kills, including by drowning,
any animal whether belonging to himself or another; (ii) sores any equine for
any purpose or administers drugs or medications to alter or mask such soring
for the purpose of sale, show, or exhibit of any kind, unless such
administration of drugs or medications is under the supervision of a licensed
veterinarian and solely for therapeutic purposes; (iii) ropes, lassoes, or
otherwise obstructs or interferes with one or more legs of an equine in order
to intentionally cause it to trip or fall for the purpose of engagement in a
rodeo, contest, exhibition, entertainment, or sport unless such actions are in
the practice of accepted animal husbandry or for the purpose of allowing
veterinary care; (iv) maliciously deprives any companion animal of necessary
food, drink, shelter or emergency veterinary treatment; (v) instigates, engages
in, or in any way furthers any act of cruelty to any animal set forth in clauses (i) through (iv) or (vi) causes any of the actions described in clauses
(i) through (v), or being the owner of such animal permits such acts to be done
by another; and has been within five years convicted of a violation of this
subsection or subsection A, is guilty of a Class 6 felony if the current
violation or any previous violation of this subsection or subsection A resulted
in the death of an animal or the euthanasia of an animal based on the
recommendation of a licensed veterinarian upon determination that such
euthanasia was necessary due to the condition of the animal, and such condition
was a direct result of a violation of this subsection or subsection A.
C. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the
dehorning of cattle conducted in a reasonable and customary manner.
D. This section shall not prohibit (i) authorized wildlife management activities or hunting,
fishing or trapping as regulated in Title
29.1 or under other titles of
the Code of Virginia, including Title 29.1,
or to the use of
completely submerged body-gripping traps by persons holding a trapping permit
issued by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, where such
use results in the drowning of an
animal, or (ii) farming
activities as provided under this title or regulations adopted hereunder.
E. It is unlawful for any person to kill a domestic dog or cat
for the purpose of obtaining the hide, fur or pelt of the dog or cat. A violation
of this subsection is a Class 1 misdemeanor. A second or subsequent violation
of this subsection is a Class 6 felony.
F. Any person who: (i)
tortures, willfully inflicts inhumane injury or pain not connected with bona
fide scientific or medical experimentation or cruelly and unnecessarily beats,
maims or mutilates any dog or cat that is a companion animal whether belonging
to him or another; and (ii) as a direct result causes the death of such dog or
cat that is a companion animal, or the euthanasia of such animal on the
recommendation of a licensed veterinarian upon determination that such
euthanasia was necessary due to the condition of the animal, is guilty of a
Class 6 felony. If a dog or cat is attacked on its owner's property by a dog so
as to cause injury or death, the owner of the injured dog or cat may use all
reasonable and necessary force against the dog at the time of the attack to
protect his dog or cat. Such owner may be presumed to have taken necessary and
appropriate action to defend his dog or cat and shall therefore be presumed not
to have violated this subsection. The provisions of this subsection shall not
overrule §3.2-6540, 3.2-6540.1, or 3.2-6552.
G. Any person convicted of violating this section may be
prohibited by the court from possession or ownership of companion animals.
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