BILL REQ. #:  H-0673.1 

Read first time 01/14/09.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to civil remedies for damages to a companion animal; and amending RCW 4.24.320.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 4.24.320 and 2005 c 419 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any person who suffers damage to livestock as a result of actions described in RCW 16.52.205 ((or)), any owner of livestock who suffers damage as a result of a willful, unauthorized act described in RCW 9A.56.080 or 9A.56.083, or any owner of a companion animal who suffers damage as a result of actions described in RCW 16.52.205 may bring an action against the person or persons committing the act in a court of competent jurisdiction for exemplary damages up to three times the actual damages sustained, plus attorney's fees.
     (2) As used in this section((,)):
     (a) "Companion animal" means any nonhuman mammal, bird, reptile, fish, or amphibian, that is lawfully owned or possessed and is under the care, custody, or ownership of a person, but does not include any animal raised solely for meat production, production of products from the animal, or breeding purposes, nor does it include any wildlife as defined by RCW 77.08.010, nor any animal regulated under federal law as a research animal.
     (b) "Livestock" means the animals specified in RCW 9A.56.080.