Session of 1999
HOUSE BILL No. 2474
By Representatives Haley, Farmer, Garner and Lane
2-10
9 AN ACT concerning crimes and punishment; relating to cruelty to ani-
10 mals; increasing penalty; amending K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 21-4310 and
11 repealing the existing section.
12
13 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
14 Section 1. K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 21-4310 is hereby amended to read as
15 follows: 21-4310. (a) Cruelty to animals is:
16 (1) Intentionally killing, injuring, maiming, torturing, burning or mu-
17 tilating or causing serious physical injury to any animal;
18 (2) abandoning or leaving any animal in any place without making
19 provisions for its proper care;
20 (3) having physical custody of any animal and failing to provide such
21 food, potable water, protection from the elements, opportunity for ex-
22 ercise and other care as is needed for the health or well-being of such
23 kind of animal; or
24 (4) intentionally using a wire, pole, stick, rope or any other object to
25 cause an equine to lose its balance or fall, for the purpose of sport or
26 entertainment.; or
27 (5) causing any physical injury other than serious physical injury to
28 any animal.
29 (b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
30 (1) Normal or accepted veterinary practices;
31 (2) bona fide experiments carried on by commonly recognized re-
32 search facilities;
33 (3) killing, attempting to kill, trapping, catching or taking of any an-
34 imal in accordance with the provisions of chapter 32 or chapter 47 of the
35 Kansas Statutes Annotated;
36 (4) rodeo practices accepted by the rodeo cowboys' association;
37 (5) the humane killing of an animal which is diseased or disabled
38 beyond recovery for any useful purpose, or the humane killing of animals
39 for population control, by the owner thereof or the agent of such owner
40 residing outside of a city or the owner thereof within a city if no animal
41 shelter, pound or licensed veterinarian is within the city, or by a licensed
42 veterinarian at the request of the owner thereof, or by any officer or agent
43 of an incorporated humane society, the operator of an animal shelter or
44 pound, a local or state health officer or a licensed veterinarian three busi-
45 ness days following the receipt of any such animal at such society, shelter
46 or pound;
47 (6) with respect to farm animals, normal or accepted practices of
48 animal husbandry;
49 (7) the killing of any animal by any person at any time which may be
50 found outside of the owned or rented property of the owner or custodian
51 of such animal and which is found injuring or posing a threat to any
52 person, farm animal or property;
53 (8) an animal control officer trained by a licensed veterinarian in the
54 use of a tranquilizer gun, using such gun with the appropriate dosage for
55 the size of the animal, when such animal is vicious or could not be cap-
56 tured after reasonable attempts using other methods; or
57 (9) laying an equine down for medical or identification purposes.
58 (c) As used in this section, "equine" means a horse, pony, mule,
59 jenny, donkey or hinny.
60 (d) (1) Cruelty to animals as described in subsection (a)(1) is a non-
61 person felony. Upon conviction of cruelty to animals as described in sub-
62 section (a)(1), a person shall be sentenced to not less than 30 days nor
63 more than one year's imprisonment and fined not less than $100.
64 (2) Cruelty to animals as described in subsections (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(4)
65 and (a)(5) is a class A nonperson misdemeanor.
66 Sec. 2. K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 21-4310 is hereby repealed.
67 Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
68 publication in the statute book.