BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to animal cruelty; amending RCW 16.52.050, 16.52.060, 16.52.070, 16.52.080, 16.52.085, 16.52.140, and 16.52.185; adding new sections to chapter 16.52 RCW; repealing RCW 16.52.030, 16.52.040, and 16.52.095; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. All members and agents, and all officers of any society so incorporated as shall by the trustees of such society be duly authorized in writing, approved by the presiding judge of the superior court of the county, and sworn in the same manner as are law enforcement officers, shall have power lawfully to investigate any violations of law under this title.

Sec. 2. RCW 16.52.050 and 1901 c 146 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:

When complaint is made on oath, to any ((~~magistrate~~)) judge authorized to issue warrants in criminal cases that the complainant has probable cause to believe((s)) that any of the provisions of law relating to or in any way affecting animals, are being or are about to be violated in any particular building or place, ((~~such magistrates shall~~)) the judge may issue and deliver immediately a warrant directed to any sheriff, constable, police or peace officer, ((~~or officer of any incorporated society qualified as provided in RCW 16.52.030,~~)) authorizing him or her to enter and search such building or place, and to arrest any person or persons there present violating or attempting to violate any law relating to or in any way affecting animals, and to bring such person or persons before some court or magistrate of competent jurisdiction within the city or county within which such offense has been committed or attempted to be committed, to be dealt with according to law.

Sec. 3. RCW 16.52.060 and 1987 c 202 s 182 are each amended to read as follows:

Any judge, sheriff, deputy, or police officer may arrest any person found committing any of the acts enumerated in RCW 16.52.065 or 81.56.120, without a warrant for such arrest, and any officer or member of any humane society, or society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, may cause the immediate arrest of any person engaged in, or who shall have committed such cruelties, upon making ((~~oral~~)) written complaint to any sheriff, deputy, or police officer((, or such officer or member of such society may himself or herself arrest any person found perpetrating any of the cruelties herein enumerated: PROVIDED, That said person making such oral complaint or making such arrest shall file with a proper officer a written complaint, stating the act or acts complained of, within twenty-four hours, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, after such arrest shall have been made)).

Sec. 4. RCW 16.52.070 and 1982 c 114 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Except as provided in RCW 9A.48.080, every person who engages in the following conduct shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor: Cruelly kill, cause, procure, authorize, request, or encourage so to be cruelly killed, any animal; cruelly beat, mutilate, torture, torment, any animal; and whoever having the charge or custody of any animal, either as owner or otherwise, inflicts unnecessary suffering or pain upon the same, or who cruelly abandons any animal.

(2) Except as provided in RCW 9A.48.080, every person who cruelly overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, ((~~tortures, torments,~~)) deprives of necessary sustenance, ((~~cruelly beats, mutilates or cruelly kills,~~)) or causes, procures, authorizes, requests or encourages so to be overdriven, overloaded, driven when overloaded, overworked, ((~~tortured, tormented,~~)) deprived of necessary sustenance, ((~~cruelly beaten or mutilated or cruelly killed,~~)) any animal; and whoever having the charge or custody of any animal, either as owner or otherwise, inflicts unnecessary suffering or pain upon the same when such suffering or pain does not rise to the level found to be a gross misdemeanor, or unnecessarily fails to provide the same with the proper food, drink, air, light, space, shelter or protection from the weather, or who wilfully and unreasonably drives the same when unfit for labor or with yoke or harness that chafes or galls it, or check rein or any part of its harness too tight for its comfort, or at night when it has been six consecutive hours without a full meal, ((~~or who cruelly abandons any animal,~~)) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(3) For the purposes of this section, necessary sustenance or proper food means the provision at suitable intervals, not to exceed twenty-four hours, of wholesome foodstuff suitable for the species and age of the animal and sufficient to provide a reasonable level of nutrition for the animal.

(4) This section shall not apply to persons engaged in properly conducted medical research experiments, tests, projects or procedures, whether conducted by public or private research facilities.

Sec. 5. RCW 16.52.080 and 1982 c 114 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

((Any person who wilfully transports or confines or causes to be transported or confined any domestic animal or animals in a manner, posture or confinement that will jeopardize the safety of the animal or the public shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. And)) Whenever ((~~any such~~)) a person shall be taken into custody or be subject to arrest pursuant to a valid warrant therefor by any officer ((~~or authorized person~~)), such officer or person may take charge of the animal or animals; and any necessary expense thereof shall be a lien thereon to be paid before the animal or animals may be recovered; and if the expense is not paid, it may be recovered from the owner of the animal or the person guilty. If unpaid for a period of ten days from the date demand is made upon the owner of the animal for payment, the agency having possession of such animal shall pursue the remedies set forth in chapter 60.60 RCW.

Sec. 6. RCW 16.52.085 and 1987 c 335 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) If the county sheriff or other law enforcement officer shall find that said domestic animal has been neglected by its owner, he or she may authorize the removal of the animal to a proper pasture or other suitable place for feeding and restoring to health.

(2) If a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe a violation of this chapter has occurred, the officer may ((~~authorize~~)) petition any judge authorized to issue warrants to order an examination of an allegedly neglected domestic animal by a veterinarian to determine whether the level of neglect is sufficient to require removal of the animal. This section does not condone illegal entry onto private property.

(3) Any owner whose domestic animal is removed to a suitable place pursuant to this chapter shall be given written notice of the circumstances of the removal and notice of legal remedies available to the owner. The notice shall be given by posting at the place of seizure, by delivery to a person residing at the place of seizure, or by registered or certified mail if the owner is known. In making the decision to remove an animal pursuant to this chapter, the law enforcement officer shall make a good faith effort to contact the animal's owner before removal unless the animal is in a life-threatening condition or unless the officer reasonably believes that the owner would remove the animal from the jurisdiction.

(4) If a criminal case is filed within seventy-two hours of the removal of the animal, then the humane society, animal control agency, or agency that has custody of the animal seized shall have a lien on the animal seized for the costs to the humane society, animal control agency, or agency holding the animal for freight, transportation, storage, provision of food, medical and other care, and all other reasonable and necessary expenses involved in caring for the animal during the time that the agency has custody of the animal, which lien shall be identical to the lien set forth in RCW 60.60.010.

If the court having jurisdiction of the criminal case orders at any time that the animal be returned to its owner or to the person from whose custody or control the animal was removed, the court shall order the owner or other person to pay to the humane society, animal control agency, or other agency having custody of the animal all reasonable and necessary costs, set forth in this subsection, before imposing any duty upon the agency to return the animal. If the owner or other person does not pay those necessary costs within ten days of the order, then the humane society or other agency having custody of the animal shall foreclose upon its lien by selling the animal in the manner set forth in chapter 60.60 RCW.

If the court having jurisdiction of the criminal case orders that the animal not be returned to the owner or other person from whose custody or control the animal was removed, the court shall order the humane society, animal control agency, or other agency having custody of the animal to sell the animal in the manner set forth in chapter 60.60 RCW.

In no case may the humane society, animal control agency, or other agency selling an animal pursuant to this chapter refuse to sell the animal to the highest bidder, unless the successful bidder is the owner or other person from whose custody or control the animal was removed, and from whose custody the court having jurisdiction of the criminal case ordered the animal permanently removed, or unless the successful bidder is a person whom the humane society or animal control agency knows to have been convicted of any violation of this title.

(5) If no criminal case is filed within seventy-two hours of the removal of the animal, ((~~the owner may petition the district court of the county where the removal of the animal occurred for the return of the animal. The petition~~)) the agency in whose custody the animal has been kept shall make reasonable efforts to return the animal to its owner or to the person from under whose control the animal was removed at the time of removal of the animal by the responsible law enforcement agency. The superior court of the county from which the animal was removed may order the forfeiture of the animal from its owner or from the person from whose custody or control the animal was removed, if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the animal is likely to suffer future neglect of a similar nature to that which was used by the law enforcement agency to justify the removal of the animal. A petition by the agency having custody of the animal shall be filed with the court, with copies served to the law enforcement agency responsible for removing the animal and to the prosecuting attorney. If a criminal action is filed after the petition is filed but before the animal is returned, the petition shall be joined with the criminal matter.

((~~(5)~~)) (6) In a motion or petition for the return of the removed animal before a trial, the burden is on the ((~~owner~~)) humane society, animal control agency, or agency having custody of the animal to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the animal will ((~~not~~)) suffer future neglect and is ((~~not~~)) in need of being restored to health.

((~~(6)~~)) (7) Any authorized person treating or attempting to restore an animal to health under this chapter shall not be civilly or criminally liable for such action.

Sec. 7. RCW 16.52.140 and 1901 c 146 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:

Any ((~~person qualified under RCW 16.52.030 and any~~)) sheriff, constable, police or peace officer may enter any place, building or tenement, where there is an exhibition of the fighting of birds or animals or where preparations are being made or training had for such exhibition, and without a warrant arrest all or any persons there present and bring them before some court or magistrate of competent jurisdiction to be dealt with according to law.

Sec. 8. RCW 16.52.185 and 1982 c 114 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:

Nothing in this chapter applies to accepted husbandry practices used in the commercial raising or slaughtering of livestock or poultry, or products thereof or to the use of animals in the normal and usual course of rodeo events, purebred dog and cat shows, field trials, terrier trials, 4-H events, circuses, zoos, aquariums, and fairs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Any individual or organization, including humane societies or shelters, that interferes with or restricts the proper holding and transfer of an animal shall be liable for any losses or damages suffered by an individual or organization that may have rightfully taken possession of an animal.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:

(1) RCW 16.52.030 and 1982 c 114 s 2 & 1901 c 146 s 2;

(2) RCW 16.52.040 and 1901 c 146 s 14; and

(3) RCW 16.52.095 and Code 1881 s 840 & 1871 p 103 s 1.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 1 and 9 of this act are each added to chapter 16.52 RCW.