BILL REQ. #:  S-1585.1 

Read first time 02/16/2007.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Rural Economic Development.

     AN ACT Relating to the confinement of animals; amending RCW 16.52.185; adding a new section to chapter 16.52 RCW; prescribing penalties; and providing an effective date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 16.52 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A person is guilty of restrictive confinement of a calf or pig if the person confines a calf or pig for more than twelve hours during any twenty-four-hour period in a manner that prevents the calf or pig from:
     (a) Laying down and fully extending its limbs; or
     (b) Turning around freely.
     (2) This section does not apply to:
     (a)(i) A calf or pig that is being lawfully transported;
     (ii) A calf or pig in a lawful rodeo exhibition, a state or county fair exhibition, or other similar lawful exhibitions;
     (iii) The lawful killing of a calf or pig according to the provisions under chapter 16.50 RCW and other applicable laws and rules;
     (iv) A calf or pig during lawful scientific or agricultural research;
     (v) A calf or pig during an examination, operation, test, or individualized temporary treatment for veterinary purposes; or
     (vi) A pig in the seven-day period prior to the pig's expected farrowing date; and
     (b) RCW 16.52.185.
     (3) Restrictive confinement of a calf or pig is a gross misdemeanor, punishable as provided in RCW 9A.20.021.
     (4) For the purposes of this section:
     (a) "Calf" means a bovine that is raised with the intent of marketing or distributing the meat, organs, or any part of the calf as a food product described as "veal."
     (b) "Pig" means a porcine of a type used for livestock purposes.
     (c) "Turning around freely" means the ability to turn around in a complete circle without any impediment, including a tether, and without touching any side of the enclosure.

Sec. 2   RCW 16.52.185 and 1994 c 261 s 22 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 or to the customary use or exhibiting of animals in normal and usual events at fairs as defined in RCW 15.76.120. Section 1 of this act does not apply to this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   This act takes effect January 1, 2011.