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SB-1024 Animal abuse: responsible animal owner course: mandatory counseling.(2017-2018)

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Date Published: 06/21/2018 09:00 PM
SB1024:v94#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 21, 2018
Amended  IN  Senate  May 25, 2018
Amended  IN  Senate  May 07, 2018
Amended  IN  Senate  May 01, 2018
Amended  IN  Senate  April 02, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 1024

Introduced by Senator Wilk
(Principal coauthor: Senator Beall)
(Coauthors: Senators Bates, Gaines, Glazer, and Monning)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Gipson)

February 07, 2018

An act to amend Section 597 of, and to add Sections 600.7 and 600.8 Section 600.8 to, the Penal Code, relating to animal abuse.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1024, as amended, Wilk. Animal abuse: responsible animal owner course: mandatory counseling.
Existing law makes it a crime to maliciously and intentionally maim, mutilate, torture, wound, or kill a living animal. If a defendant is granted probation for a conviction under this provision, existing law requires the court to order the defendant to complete and pay for counseling designed to evaluate and treat behavior or conduct disorders, as specified.
This bill would delete the requirement that a defendant granted probation complete counseling and would instead require the court, for every defendant granted probation for this and other specified offenses against animals, to consider whether to order the person to undergo a mental health evaluation by an evaluator chosen by the court. The bill would require the defendant to pay for the evaluation and subsequent treatment, but would authorize the court to establish a sliding fee schedule based on the defendant’s ability to pay.

The bill would require the court, for every defendant granted probation for this and other specified offenses against animals, to consider ordering the person to complete a responsible animal owner education course. The bill would require the course to, among other things, consist of 5 instructional hours on specified subjects and test the participant’s mastery of the course. The bill would require a person ordered to complete the course to pay for the course, but would authorize the court to establish a sliding fee schedule based on the defendant’s ability to pay.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Animal Cruelty and Violence Intervention Act of 2018.

SEC. 2.

 Section 597 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

597.
 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (c) of this section or Section 599c, a 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), a person who overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, drink, or shelter, cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills an animal, or causes or procures an 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 an animal, either as owner or otherwise, subjects an animal to needless suffering, or inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the animal, or in any manner abuses an 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) A person who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, or tortures a 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) (1) Subdivision (c) applies to any mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish which is a creature described as follows:
(A) Endangered species or threatened species as described in Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code.
(B) Fully protected birds described in Section 3511 of the Fish and Game Code.
(C) Fully protected mammals described in Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4700) of Part 3 of Division 4 of the Fish and Game Code.
(D) Fully protected reptiles and amphibians described in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 5050) of Division 5 of the Fish and Game Code.
(E) Fully protected fish as described in Section 5515 of the Fish and Game Code.
(2) This subdivision does not supersede or affect any 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 a 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.

SEC. 3.Section 600.7 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
600.7.

(a)For every defendant who is granted probation for an offense specified in subdivision (c), the court shall consider whether to order that person to complete the responsible animal owner education course described in subdivision (b). A defendant ordered to complete the course shall pay for the course, except, when the court finds that the defendant is financially unable to pay for the course, the court may develop a sliding fee schedule based upon the defendant’s ability to pay.

(b)(1)The responsible animal owner education course for persons convicted of an offense specified in subdivision (c) may be conducted online or in person, or in a combination of both, and shall consist of all of the following:

(A)A minimum of five instructional hours.

(B)Mechanisms to ensure the minimum hours of instruction have been completed by the participant.

(C)Attendance shall be verified. If the course is completed online, the course provider shall maintain a system to validate the identity of the person taking the course.

(D)The course provider shall incorporate a validation process that verifies participant comprehension of course material related to the educational objectives as follows:

(i)The course provider shall test the participant’s mastery of the course content by asking at least two questions from each major unit or section. The questions shall be multiple choice.

(ii)The questions shall be difficult enough that the answer may not be easily determined without having viewed the contents of the major unit or section.

(2)The educational objectives of the responsible animal owner course shall include, but not be limited to, promotion of all of the following:

(A)Responsible care concepts for animals, both livestock and nonlivestock, including instruction on providing for the health, safety, and welfare of livestock and nonlivestock animals and wildlife, including appropriate shelter and housing, the importance of spaying and neutering, and the proper tethering and transportation of animals.

(B)Responsible pet ownership, including, but not limited to, ensuring the safety of both the community and the animal and bite prevention.

(C)Respect and observance of federal and state laws that protect livestock and nonlivestock animals and wildlife.

(D)An overview of state and federal laws related to cruelty to livestock and nonlivestock animals and animal fighting.

(E)Appropriate training and discipline tactics for livestock and nonlivestock animals.

(c)This section applies to a conviction for any of the following offenses:

(1)Section 286.5.

(2)Section 596.

(3)Section 596.5.

(4)Subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 597.

(5)Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 597.1.

(6)Subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 597.5.

(7)Section 597.6.

(8)Section 597.7.

(9)Section 597a.

(10)Section 597b.

(11)Section 597c.

(12)Section 597f.

(13)Section 597g.

(14)Section 597h.

(15)Section 597i.

(16)Section 597j.

(17)Section 597k.

(18)Section 597m.

(19)Section 597n.

(20)Section 597s.

(21)Section 597t.

(22)Section 597u.

(23)Section 597v.

(24)Section 597x.

(25)Section 597z.

(26)Section 599f.

(27)Subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 600.

(28)Section 600.2.

(29)Section 600.5.

SEC. 4.SEC. 3.

 Section 600.8 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

600.8.
 (a) For every defendant who is granted probation for an offense specified in subdivision (b), the court shall consider whether to order that the person undergo a mental health evaluation by an evaluator chosen by the court. Upon evaluation, if the evaluating mental health professional deems it necessary, the defendant shall complete mandatory counseling. Mental health evaluations and any subsequent treatment shall be paid for by the defendant. 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.
(b) This section applies to a conviction for any of the following offenses:
(1) Section 286.5.
(2) Section 596.
(3) Subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 597.
(4) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 597.1.
(5) Section 597f.
(6) Subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 600.
(7) Section 600.2.
(8) Section 600.5.