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H. B. No. 108 As IntroducedAs Introduced
129th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2011-2012 |
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Representatives Gerberry, Hagan
A BILL
To amend sections 959.131 and 959.99 of the Revised
Code to specifically prohibit an owner of a kennel
of dogs from committing cruel treatment of a
companion animal and to give a prosecutor who
prosecutes an owner of a kennel of dogs who
commits cruel treatment of a companion animal
discretion in prosecuting the owner for the
offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 959.131 and 959.99 of the Revised
Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 959.131. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Companion animal" means any animal that is kept inside a
residential dwelling and any dog or cat regardless of where it is
kept. "Companion animal" does not include livestock or any wild
animal.
(2) "Cruelty," "torment," and "torture" have the same
meanings as in section 1717.01 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Residential dwelling" means a structure or shelter or
the portion of a structure or shelter that is used by one or more
humans for the purpose of a habitation.
(4) "Practice of veterinary medicine" has the same meaning as
in section 4741.01 of the Revised Code.
(5) "Wild animal" has the same meaning as in section 1531.01
of the Revised Code.
(6) "Federal animal welfare act" means the "Laboratory Animal
Act of 1966," Pub. L. No. 89-544, 80 Stat. 350 (1966), 7 U.S.C.A.
2131 et seq., as amended by the "Animal Welfare Act of 1970," Pub.
L. No. 91-579, 84 Stat. 1560 (1970), the "Animal Welfare Act
Amendments of 1976," Pub. L. No. 94-279, 90 Stat. 417 (1976), and
the "Food Security Act of 1985," Pub. L. No. 99-198, 99 Stat. 1354
(1985), and as it may be subsequently amended.
(7) "Prosecutor" has the same meaning as in section 2935.01
of the Revised Code.
(B) No person shall knowingly torture, torment, needlessly
mutilate or maim, cruelly beat, poison, needlessly kill, or commit
an act of cruelty against a companion animal.
(C) No person who confines or who is the custodian or
caretaker of a companion animal shall negligently do any of the
following:
(1) Torture, torment, needlessly mutilate or maim, cruelly
beat, poison, needlessly kill, or commit an act of cruelty against
the companion animal;
(2) Deprive the companion animal of necessary sustenance,
confine the companion animal without supplying it during the
confinement with sufficient quantities of good, wholesome food and
water, or impound or confine the companion animal without
affording it, during the impoundment or confinement, with access
to shelter from heat, cold, wind, rain, snow, or excessive direct
sunlight, if it can reasonably be expected that the companion
animal would become sick or suffer in any other way as a result of
or due to the deprivation, confinement, or impoundment or
confinement in any of those specified manners.
(D) No owner of a kennel of dogs that is registered under
section 955.04 of the Revised Code who confines or is the
custodian or caretaker of a companion animal shall negligently do
any of the following:
(1) Torture, torment, needlessly mutilate or maim, cruelly
beat, poison, needlessly kill, or commit an act of cruelty against
the companion animal;
(2) Deprive the companion animal of necessary sustenance,
confine the companion animal without supplying it during the
confinement with sufficient quantities of good, wholesome food and
water, or impound or confine the companion animal without
affording it, during the impoundment or confinement, with access
to shelter from heat, cold, wind, rain, snow, or excessive direct
sunlight, if it can reasonably be expected that the companion
animal would become sick or suffer in any other way as a result of
or due to the deprivation, confinement, or impoundment or
confinement in any of those specified manners.
(E) If the owner of a kennel of dogs that is registered under
section 955.04 of the Revised Code violates divisions (C) and (D)
of this section, the prosecutor in the case, in the prosecutor's
discretion, may prosecute the owner of a kennel of dogs for a
violation of either division (C) or (D) of this section.
(F) Divisions (B) and, (C), and (D) of this section do not
apply to any of the following:
(1) A companion animal used in scientific research conducted
by an institution in accordance with the federal animal welfare
act and related regulations;
(2) The lawful practice of veterinary medicine by a person
who has been issued a license, temporary permit, or registration
certificate to do so under Chapter 4741. of the Revised Code;
(3) Dogs being used or intended for use for hunting or field
trial purposes, provided that the dogs are being treated in
accordance with usual and commonly accepted practices for the care
of hunting dogs;
(4) The use of common training devices, if the companion
animal is being treated in accordance with usual and commonly
accepted practices for the training of animals;
(5) The administering of medicine to a companion animal that
was properly prescribed by a person who has been issued a license,
temporary permit, or registration certificate under Chapter 4741.
of the Revised Code.
(E)(G) Notwithstanding any section of the Revised Code that
otherwise provides for the distribution of fine moneys, the clerk
of court shall forward all fines the clerk collects that are so
imposed for any violation of this section to the treasurer of the
political subdivision or the state, whose county humane society or
law enforcement agency is to be paid the fine money as determined
under this division. The treasurer to whom the fines are forwarded
shall pay the fine moneys to the county humane society or the
county, township, municipal corporation, or state law enforcement
agency in this state that primarily was responsible for or
involved in the investigation and prosecution of the violation. If
a county humane society receives any fine moneys under this
division, the county humane society shall use the fine moneys to
provide the training that is required for humane agents under
section 1717.06 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 959.99. (A) Whoever violates section 959.18 or 959.19
of the Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(B) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever
violates section 959.02 of the Revised Code is guilty of a
misdemeanor of the second degree. If the value of the animal
killed or the injury done amounts to three hundred dollars or
more, whoever violates section 959.02 of the Revised Code is
guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(C) Whoever violates section 959.03, 959.06, 959.12, 959.15,
or 959.17 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the
fourth degree.
(D) Whoever violates division (A) of section 959.13 of the
Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree. In
addition, the court may order the offender to forfeit the animal
or livestock and may provide for its disposition, including, but
not limited to, the sale of the animal or livestock. If an animal
or livestock is forfeited and sold pursuant to this division, the
proceeds from the sale first shall be applied to pay the expenses
incurred with regard to the care of the animal from the time it
was taken from the custody of the former owner. The balance of the
proceeds from the sale, if any, shall be paid to the former owner
of the animal.
(E)(1) Whoever violates division (B) of section 959.131 of
the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree on
a first offense and a felony of the fifth degree on each
subsequent offense.
(2) Whoever violates section 959.01 of the Revised Code or
division (C) of section 959.131 of the Revised Code is guilty of a
misdemeanor of the second degree on a first offense and a
misdemeanor of the first degree on each subsequent offense.
(3) Whoever violates division (D) of section 959.131 of the
Revised Code is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree.
(4)(a) A court may order a person who is convicted of or
pleads guilty to a violation of section 959.131 of the Revised
Code to forfeit to an impounding agency, as defined in section
959.132 of the Revised Code, any or all of the companion animals
in that person's ownership or care. The court also may prohibit or
place limitations on the person's ability to own or care for any
companion animals for a specified or indefinite period of time.
(b) A court may order a person who is convicted of or pleads
guilty to a violation of section 959.131 of the Revised Code to
reimburse an impounding agency for the reasonably necessary costs
incurred by the agency for the care of a companion animal that the
agency impounded as a result of the investigation or prosecution
of the violation, provided that the costs were not otherwise paid
under section 959.132 of the Revised Code.
(4)(5) If a court has reason to believe that a person who is
convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of section 959.131 of
the Revised Code suffers from a mental or emotional disorder that
contributed to the violation, the court may impose as a community
control sanction or as a condition of probation a requirement that
the offender undergo psychological evaluation or counseling. The
court shall order the offender to pay the costs of the evaluation
or counseling.
(F) Whoever violates section 959.14 of the Revised Code is
guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree on a first offense
and a misdemeanor of the first degree on each subsequent offense.
(G) Whoever violates section 959.05 or 959.20 of the Revised
Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(H) Whoever violates section 959.16 of the Revised Code is
guilty of a felony of the fourth degree for a first offense and a
felony of the third degree on each subsequent offense.
Section 2. That existing sections 959.131 and 959.99 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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