Bill Text: NJ S1970 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Designated as the "Dogfighting Zero Tolerance Act of 2010."
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-05-27 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee [S1970 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S1970-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator PHILIP E. HAINES
District 8 (Burlington)
Senator JEFF VAN DREW
District 1 (Cape May, Atlantic and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Designated the "Dogfighting Zero Tolerance Act of 2010."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning animal fighting and designated the "Dogfighting Zero Tolerance Act of 2010," and amending R.S.4:22-24 and R.S.4:22-26.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.4:22-24 is amended to read as follows:
4:22-24. A person who shall:
a. Keep, use, be connected with or interested in the management of, or receive money for the admission of a person to, a place kept or used for the purpose of fighting or baiting a living animal or creature;
b. Be present and witness, pay admission to, encourage or assist therein;
c. Permit or suffer a place owned or controlled by him to be so used;
d. For amusement or gain, cause, allow, or permit the fighting or baiting of a living animal or creature;
e. Own, possess, keep, train, promote, purchase, or knowingly sell a living animal or creature for the purpose of fighting or baiting that animal or creature; [or]
f. Gamble on the outcome of a fight involving a living animal or creature;
g. Import into the State or export out of the State an animal for the purpose of animal fighting;
h. Steal an animal for the purpose of using that animal in animal fighting; or
i. Conspire to organize, participate in, or train animals for the purpose of, animal fighting --
Shall be guilty of a crime of the [third] second degree. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the sentence imposed for a conviction under this section shall include a mandatory minimum five-year term of imprisonment, during which the defendant shall be ineligible for parole, and a minimum fine of $5,000.
Assets or property used in an activity enumerated in this section shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture. The proceeds realized from any such forfeiture shall be dedicated to training animal control officers and humane law enforcement officers and to animal health, care and welfare.
(cf: P.L.1989, c.35, s.1)
2. R.S.4:22-26 is amended to read as follows:
4:22-26. A person who shall:
a. (1) Overdrive, overload, drive when overloaded, overwork, deprive of necessary sustenance, abuse, or needlessly kill a living animal or creature, or cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, any such acts to be done;
(2) Torment, torture, maim, hang, poison, unnecessarily or cruelly beat, or needlessly mutilate a living animal or creature, or cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, any such acts to be done;
(3) Cruelly kill, or cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, the cruel killing of, a living animal or creature, or otherwise cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, the death of a living animal or creature from commission of any act described in paragraph (2) of this subsection;
b. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2003, c.232).
c. Inflict unnecessary cruelty upon a living animal or creature, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature; or unnecessarily fail to provide a living animal or creature of which the person has charge either as an owner or otherwise with proper food, drink, shelter or protection from the weather; or leave it unattended in a vehicle under inhumane conditions adverse to the health or welfare of the living animal or creature;
d. Receive or offer for sale a horse that is suffering from abuse or neglect, or which by reason of disability, disease, abuse or lameness, or any other cause, could not be worked, ridden or otherwise used for show, exhibition or recreational purposes, or kept as a domestic pet without violating the provisions of this article;
e. Keep, use, be connected with or interested in the management of, or receive money or other consideration for the admission of a person to, a place kept or used for the purpose of fighting or baiting a living animal or creature;
f. Be present and witness, pay admission to, encourage, aid or assist in an activity enumerated in subsection e. of this section;
g. Permit or suffer a place owned or controlled by him to be used as provided in subsection e. of this section;
h. Carry, or cause to be carried, a living animal or creature in or upon a vehicle or otherwise, in a cruel or inhumane manner;
i. Use a dog or dogs for the purpose of drawing or helping to draw a vehicle for business purposes;
j. Impound or confine or cause to be impounded or confined in a pound or other place a living animal or creature, and shall fail to supply it during such confinement with a sufficient quantity of good and wholesome food and water;
k. Abandon a maimed, sick, infirm or disabled animal or creature to die in a public place;
l. Willfully sell, or offer to sell, use, expose, or cause or permit to be sold or offered for sale, used or exposed, a horse or other animal having the disease known as glanders or farcy, or other contagious or infectious disease dangerous to the health or life of human beings or animals, or who shall, when any such disease is beyond recovery, refuse, upon demand, to deprive the animal of life;
m. Own, operate, manage or conduct a roadside stand or market for the sale of merchandise along a public street or highway; or a shopping mall, or a part of the premises thereof; and keep a living animal or creature confined, or allowed to roam in an area whether or not the area is enclosed, on these premises as an exhibit; except that this subsection shall not be applicable to: a pet shop licensed pursuant to P.L.1941, c.151 (C.4:19-15.1 et seq.); a person who keeps an animal, in a humane manner, for the purpose of the protection of the premises; or a recognized breeders' association, a 4-H club, an educational agricultural program, an equestrian team, a humane society or other similar charitable or nonprofit organization conducting an exhibition, show or performance;
n. Keep or exhibit a wild animal at a roadside stand or market located along a public street or highway of this State; a gasoline station; or a shopping mall, or a part of the premises thereof;
o. Sell, offer for sale, barter or give away or display live baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or rabbits, turtles or chameleons which have been dyed or artificially colored or otherwise treated so as to impart to them an artificial color;
p. Use any animal, reptile, or fowl for the purpose of soliciting any alms, collections, contributions, subscriptions, donations, or payment of money except in connection with exhibitions, shows or performances conducted in a bona fide manner by recognized breeders' associations, 4-H clubs or other similar bona fide organizations;
q. Sell or offer for sale, barter, or give away living rabbits, turtles, baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl under two months of age, for use as household or domestic pets;
r. Sell, offer for sale, barter or give away living baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl, or rabbits, turtles or chameleons under two months of age for any purpose not prohibited by subsection q. of this section and who shall fail to provide proper facilities for the care of such animals;
s. Artificially mark sheep or cattle, or cause them to be marked, by cropping or cutting off both ears, cropping or cutting either ear more than one inch from the tip end thereof, or half cropping or cutting both ears or either ear more than one inch from the tip end thereof, or who shall have or keep in the person's possession sheep or cattle, which the person claims to own, marked contrary to this subsection unless they were bought in market or of a stranger;
t. Abandon a domesticated animal;
u. For amusement or gain, cause, allow, or permit the fighting or baiting of a living animal or creature;
v. Own, possess, keep, train, promote, purchase, or knowingly sell a living animal or creature for the purpose of fighting or baiting that animal or creature;
w. Gamble on the outcome of a fight involving a living animal or creature;
x. Knowingly sell or barter or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, the fur or hair of a domestic dog or cat or any product made in whole or in part from the fur or hair of a domestic dog or cat, unless such fur or hair for sale or barter is from a commercial grooming establishment or a veterinary office or clinic or is for use for scientific research;
y. Knowingly sell or barter or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, for human consumption, the flesh of a domestic dog or cat or any product made in whole or in part from the flesh of a domestic dog or cat;
z. Surgically debark or silence a dog in violation of section 1 or 2 of P.L.2002, c.102 (C.4:19-38 or C.4:19-39);
aa. Use a live pigeon, fowl or other bird for the purpose of a target, or to be shot at either for amusement or as a test of skill in marksmanship, except that this subsection and subsections bb. and cc. shall not apply to the shooting of game;
bb. Shoot at a bird used as described in subsection aa. of this section, or is a party to such shooting; [or]
cc. Lease a building, room, field or premises, or knowingly permit the use thereof for the purposes of subsection aa. or bb. of this section;
dd. Import into the State or export out of the State an animal for the purpose of animal fighting;
ee. Steal an animal for the purpose of using that animal in animal fighting; or
ff. Conspire to organize, participate in, or train animals for the purpose of, animal fighting --
Shall forfeit and pay a sum according to the following schedule, to be sued for and recovered, with costs, in a civil action by any person in the name of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or a county society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, as appropriate, or, in the name of the municipality if brought by a certified animal control officer or animal cruelty investigator:
For a violation of subsection e., f., g., u., v., w., dd., ee., or ff. of this section, a sum of not less than $5,000 nor more than $500,000;
For a violation of subsection [e., f., g., u., v., w., or] z. of this section or of paragraph (3) of subsection a. of this section, or for a second or subsequent violation of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section, a sum of not less than $3,000 nor more than $5,000;
For a violation of subsection l. of this section or for a first violation of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section, a sum of not less than $1,000 nor more than $3,000;
For a violation of subsection x. or y. of this section, a sum of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 for each domestic dog or cat fur or fur or hair product or domestic dog or cat carcass or meat product;
For a violation of subsection t. of this section, a sum of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000, but if the violation occurs on or near a highway, a mandatory sum of $1,000;
For a violation of subsection c., d., h., j., k., aa., bb., or cc. of this section or of paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section, a sum of not less than $250 nor more than $1,000; and
For a violation of subsection i., m., n., o., p., q., r., or s. of this section, a sum of not less than $250 nor more than $500.
(cf: P.L.2005, c.372, s.16)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill increases the degree of crime for animal fighting offenses to a crime of the second degree, and requires a minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a minimum fine of $5,000 for a first offense. The bill also provides for the seizure and forfeiture of assets or property connected with the enumerated animal fighting offenses and establishes the following offenses as animal fighting offenses and crimes of the second degree in addition to the offenses already enumerated in the law:
1) importing into the State or exporting out of the State an animal for the purpose of animal fighting;
2) stealing an animal for the purpose of using that animal in animal fighting; or
3) conspiring to organize, participating in, or training animals for the purpose of, animal fighting.
The other animal fighting offenses enumerated in existing law, that continue to be such offenses under the bill but as crimes of the second degree, are the following:
1) keeping, using, being connected with or interested in the management of, or receiving money for the admission of a person to, a place kept or used for the purpose of fighting or baiting a living animal or creature;
2) being present or witnessing, paying admission to, encouraging or assisting with the fighting or baiting a living animal or creature;
3) permitting or suffering a place owned or controlled by a person to be used for fighting or baiting a living animal or creature;
4) for amusement or gain, causing, allowing, or permitting the fighting or baiting of a living animal or creature;
5) owning, possessing, keeping, training, promoting, purchasing, or knowingly selling a living animal or creature for the purpose of fighting or baiting that animal or creature; or
6) gambling on the outcome of a fight involving a living animal or creature.
Finally, the bill also increases the civil penalty for all the enumerated animal fighting offenses to a minimum of $5,000 and maximum of $500,000.
Under current law, animal fighting offenses are crimes of the third degree, which carry a presumption of no incarceration for first-time offenders, possible criminal penalties of three to five years in jail or a fine of up to $15,000, or both, and a civil fine of $3,000 to $5,000. Crimes of the second degree are punishable by terms of five to 10 years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $150,000, or both. There are currently no minimum fines for crimes unless otherwise provided for certain offenses.
