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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Animal Cruelty Laws Change with SB 917 - County to Absorb Cost

Major changes to the existing animal cruelty law occurred when Governor Brown signed SB 917 (Lieu) Animal Abuse law.
With the existing law if the owner/person inflicting the cruelty is found guilty, the crime is punishable as a misdemeanor or as a felony and a fine of not more than $20,000. The bill revises the punishment for this offense to include imprisonment in a ‘county jail for not more than 1 year’ or a state prison, or by a fine not more than $20,000 or both.
SB 917 also makes changes to the existing bill when it comes to the sale of animals, prohibiting the sale of animals on most public property, “it shall be a crime, punishable as specified, for any person to willfully sell or give away as part of a commercial transaction, a live animal on any street, highway, public right-of-way, parking lot, carnival, or boardwalk, or to display or offer for sale, or display or offer to give away as part of a commercial transaction, a live animal if the act of selling or giving away the live animal is to occur on any street, highway, public right-of-way, parking lot, carnival, or boardwalk.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies for certain costs mandated by the state...this bill provides that no reimbursement is required.

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