Maine
Anti-Cruelty StatutesMAINE
REVISED STATUTES
TITLE 7. AGRICULTURE AND ANIMALS
PART 9. ANIMAL WELFARE
CHAPTER 739. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
§
4011. Cruelty to animals 1.
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. Except as provided in subsection 1-A, a person, including
an owner or the owner's agent, is guilty of cruelty to animals if that person:
- A. Kills
or attempts to kill any animal belonging to another person
without the consent
of the owner or without legal privilege;
B. Except for a licensed veterinarian
or a person certified under
Title 17, section 1042, kills or attempts to
kill an animal by a
method that does not cause instantaneous death;
C. Is a licensed veterinarian or a person certified under Title 17,
section
1042 and that person kills or attempts to kill an animal by a
method that
does not conform to standards adopted by a national
association of licensed
veterinarians;
D. Injures, overworks, tortures, torments, abandons or
cruelly beats
or intentionally mutilates an animal; gives drugs to an animal
with
an intent to harm the animal; gives poison or alcohol to an animal;
or exposes a poison with intent that it be taken by an animal. The
owner
or occupant of property is privileged to use reasonable force
to eject a
trespassing animal;
E. Deprives an animal that the person owns or possesses
of necessary
sustenance, necessary medical attention, proper shelter, protection
from the weather or humanely clean conditions;
F. Keeps or leaves
a domestic animal on an uninhabited or barren
island lying off the coast
of the State during the month of December,
January, February or March without
providing necessary sustenance and
proper shelter;
G. Hunts, traps
or sells for the purpose of hunting any animal,
except as permitted pursuant
to Title 7, chapter 202-A and Title
12, Part 10;
H. Injects, inserts
or causes ingestion of any substance used solely
to enhance the performance
of an animal by altering the animal's
metabolism to that animal's detriment,
including but not limited to
excessive levels of sodium bicarbonate in equines
used for
competition; or
I. Kills or tortures an animal to frighten
or intimidate a person or
forces a person to injure or kill an animal.
1-A.
ANIMAL CRUELTY. Except as provided in paragraphs A and B, a person is guilty of
cruelty to animals if that person kills or attempts to kill a cat or dog.
- A. A licensed
veterinarian or a person certified under Title 17,
section 1042 may kill
a cat or dog according to the methods of
euthanasia under Title 17, chapter
42, subchapter IV.
B. A person who owns a cat or dog, or the owner's
agent, may kill
that owner's cat or dog by shooting with a firearm provided
the
following conditions are met.
- - - 1) The shooting is performed
by a person 18 years of age or older
using a weapon and ammunition of suitable
caliber and other
characteristics to produce instantaneous death by a single
shot.
- - - 2) Death is instantaneous.
- - -3) Maximum precaution
is taken to protect the general public,
employees and other animals.
- - -4) Any restraint of the cat or dog during the shooting does not
cause undue suffering to the cat or dog.
2.
AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES. It is an affirmative defense to this section that: - A.
The conduct was performed by a licensed veterinarian or was a part
of scientific
research governed by accepted standards;
B. The conduct was designed
to control or eliminate rodents, ants or
other common pests on the defendant's
own property; or
C. The conduct involved the use of live animals as
bait or in the
training of other animals in accordance with the laws of the
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Title 12, Part 10.
Evidence
of proper care of any animal shall not be admissible in the defense of alleged
cruelty to other animals.
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MAINE
REVISED STATUTES
TITLE 17. CRIMES
CHAPTER 42. ANIMAL WELFARE BOARD ACT
SUBCHAPTER III. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
Current through End of 1995 First Reg.
Sess.
§ 1031. Cruelty to animals
1. Cruelty to animals.
Except as provided in subsection 1-A, a person, including an owner or the owner's
agent, is guilty of cruelty to animals if that person: A. Kills or attempts
to kill any animal belonging to another person without the consent of the owner
or without legal privilege; B. Except for a licensed veterinarian or a person
certified under section 1042, kills or attempts to kill an animal by a method
that does not cause instantaneous death; C. If that person is a licensed
veterinarian or a person certified under section 1042, kills or attempts to kill
an animal by a method that causes undue suffering. The commissioner shall adopt
rules that define "undue suffering"; D. Injures, overworks, tortures,
torments, abandons or cruelly beats or mutilates an animal; gives drugs to an
animal with an intent to harm the animal; gives poison or alcohol to an animal;
or exposes a poison with intent that it be taken by an animal. The owner or occupant
of property is privileged to use reasonable force to eject a trespassing animal; E.
Deprives an animal that the person owns or possesses of necessary sustenance,
necessary medical attention, proper shelter, protection from the weather or humanely
clean conditions; or F. Keeps or leaves a domestic animal on an uninhabited
or barren island lying off the coast of the State during the month of December,
January, February or March without providing necessary sustenance and proper shelter. 1-A.
Animal cruelty. Except as provided in paragraphs A and B, a person is guilty of
cruelty to animals if that person kills or attempts to kill a cat or dog. A.
A licensed veterinarian or a person certified under section 1042 may kill a cat
or dog according to the methods of euthanasia under chapter 42, subchapter IV.
[FN1] B. A person who owns a cat or dog, or the owner's agent, may kill
that owner's cat or dog by shooting with a firearm provided the following conditions
are met. (1) The shooting is performed by a person 18 years of age or older
using a weapon and ammunition of suitable caliber and other characteristics to
produce instantaneous death by a single shot. (2) Death is instantaneous. (3)
Maximum precaution is taken to protect the general public, employees and other
animals. (4) Any restraint of the cat or dog during the shooting does not
cause undue suffering. 2. Affirmative defense. It is an affirmative defense
to prosecution under this section that: A. The defendant's conduct conformed
to accepted veterinary practice or was a part of scientific research governed
by accepted standards; B. The defendant's conduct or that of his agent was
designed to control or eliminate rodents, ants or other common pests on his own
property; or C. The defendant's conduct involved the use of live animals
as bait or in the training of other animals in accordance with the laws of the
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Title 12, Part 10. [FN2] Evidence
of proper care of any animal shall not be admissible in the defense of alleged
cruelty to other animals. 3. Penalty. Cruelty to animals is a Class D crime.
In addition to any other penalty authorized by law, the court shall impose a fine
of not less than $100 for each violation of this section. 4. Criminal or
civil prosecution. A person may be arrested or detained for the crime of cruelty
to animals in accordance with the rules of criminal procedure. No person may be
arrested or detained for the civil violation of cruelty to animals. The attorney
for the State shall elect to charge a defendant with the crime of cruelty to animals
under this section or the civil violation of cruelty to animals under Title 7,
section 4011. In making this election, the attorney for the State shall consider
the severity of the cruelty displayed, the number of animals involved, any prior
convictions or adjudications of animal cruelty entered against the defendant and
such other factors as may be relevant to a determination of whether criminal or
civil sanctions will best accomplish the goals of the animal welfare laws in the
particular case before the attorney for the State. The election and determination
required by this subsection shall not be subject to judicial review. The factors
involved in such election and determination are not elements of the criminal offense
or civil violation of animal cruelty and are not subject to proof or disproof
as prerequisites or conditions for conviction under this subsection or adjudication
under Title 7, section 4011.
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