Nebraska
Anti-Cruelty
StatutesNEBRASKA
REVISED STATUTES OF 1943
CHAPTER 28. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
ARTICLE 10.
OFFENSES AGAINST ANIMALS
§ 28-1008.
Terms, defined
For purposes of sections 28-1008 to 28-1017: (1) Abandon
means to leave any animal for any length of time without making effective provision
for its food, water, or other care as is reasonably necessary for the animal's
health; (2) Animal means any vertebrate member of the animal kingdom. The
term does not include an uncaptured wild creature; (3) Cruelly mistreat
means to knowingly and intentionally kill, maim, disfigure, torture, beat, mutilate,
burn, scald, or otherwise inflict harm upon any animal; (4) Cruelly neglect
means to fail to provide any animal in one's care, whether as owner or custodian,
with food, water, or other care as is reasonably necessary for the animal's health;
(5) Humane killing means the destruction of an animal by a method which
causes the animal a minimum of pain and suffering;
(6) Law enforcement
officer means any member of the Nebraska State Patrol, any county or deputy sheriff,
any member of the police force of any city or village, or any other public official
authorized by a city or village to enforce state or local animal control laws,
rules, regulations, or ordinances; and (7) Police animal means a horse
or dog owned or controlled by the State of Nebraska for the purpose of assisting
a Nebraska state trooper in the performance of his or her official enforcement
duties.
§ 28-1009. Abandonment; cruelty; harassment of a police
animal; penalty
(1) A person who abandons or cruelly neglects an animal
is guilty of a Class I misdemeanor. (2) (a) Except as provided in subdivision
(b) of this subsection, a person who cruelly mistreats an animal is guilty of
a Class I misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class IV felony for any subsequent
offense. (b) A person who cruelly mistreats an animal is guilty of a Class
IV felony if such cruel mistreatment involves the knowing and intentional torture,
repeated beating, or mutilation of the animal. (3) A person commits harassment
of a police animal if he or she knowingly and intentionally teases or harasses
a police animal in order to distract, agitate, or harm the police animal for the
purpose of preventing such animal from performing its legitimate official duties.
Harassment of a police animal is a Class IV misdemeanor unless the harassment
is the proximate cause of the death of the police animal, in which case it is
a Class IV felony.
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