Virginia
Anti-Cruelty
StatutesCODE
OF VIRGINIA
TITLE 3.1. AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE AND FOOD. CHAPTER
27.4. COMPREHENSIVE ANIMAL LAWS.
ARTICLE 6. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.
§
3.1-796.122. Cruelty to animals; penalty A. Any person who (i) overrides,
overdrives, overloads, tortures, ill-treats, abandons, willfully inflicts inhumane
injury or pain not connected with bona fide scientific or medical experimentation,
or cruelly or unnecessarily beats, maims, mutilates, or kills any animal, whether
belonging to himself or another; (ii) deprives any animal of necessary food, drink,
shelter or emergency veterinary treatment; (iii) sores any equine for any purpose
or administers drugs or medications to alter or mask such soring for the purpose
of sale, show, or exhibition of any kind, unless such administration of drugs
or medications is within the context of a veterinary client-patient relationship
and solely for therapeutic purposes; (iv) willfully sets on foot, instigates,
engages in, or in any way furthers any act of cruelty to any animal; (v) carries
or causes to be carried in or upon any vehicle, vessel or otherwise any animal
in a cruel, brutal, or inhumane manner, so as to produce torture or unnecessary
suffering; or (vi) causes any of the above things, or being the owner of such
animal permits such acts to be done by another, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
B. Any person who (i) tortures, willfully inflicts inhumane injury or pain
not connected with bona fide scientific or medical experimentation, or cruelly
and unnecessarily beats, maims, mutilates or kills any animal whether belonging
to himself or another; (ii) sores any equine for any purpose or administers drugs
or medications to alter or mask such soring for the purpose of sale, show, or
exhibit of any kind, unless such administration of drugs or medications is under
the supervision of a licensed veterinarian and solely for therapeutic purposes;
(iii) instigates, engages in, or in any way furthers any act of cruelty to any
animal set forth in clause (i); or (iv) causes any of the actions described in
clauses (i) through (iii), or being the owner of such animal permits such acts
to be done by another; and has been within five years convicted of a violation
of this subsection or subsection A, shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony if the
current violation or any previous violation of this subsection or subsection A
resulted in the death of an animal or the euthanasia of an animal based on the
recommendation of a licensed veterinarian upon determination that such euthanasia
was necessary due to the condition of the animal, and such condition was a direct
result of a violation of this subsection or subsection A. C. Nothing in
this section shall be construed to prohibit the dehorning of cattle. D.
For the purposes of this section and §§ 3.1-796.111, 3.1-796.113, 3.1-796.114,
3.1-796.115, and 3.1-796.125, the word animal shall be construed to include birds
and fowl. E. This section shall not prohibit authorized wildlife management
activities or hunting, fishing or trapping as regulated under other titles of
the Code of Virginia, including, but not limited to Title 29.1, or to farming
activities as provided under this title or regulations promulgated thereto. F.
In addition to the penalties provided in subsection A, the court may, in its discretion,
require any person convicted of a violation of subsection A to attend an anger
management or other appropriate treatment program or obtain psychiatric or psychological
counseling. The court may impose the costs of such a program or counseling upon
the person convicted. G. It is unlawful for any person to kill a domestic
dog or cat for the purpose of obtaining the hide, fur or pelt of the dog or cat.
A violation of this subsection shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor. A second
or subsequent violation of this subsection shall constitute a Class 6 felony.
H. Any person who (i) tortures, willfully inflicts inhumane injury or pain
not connected with bona fide scientific or medical experimentation or cruelly
and unnecessarily beats, maims or mutilates any dog or cat that is a companion
animal whether belonging to him or another and (ii) as a direct result causes
the death of such dog or cat that is a companion animal, or the euthanasia of
such animal on the recommendation of a licensed veterinarian upon determination
that such euthanasia was necessary due to the condition of the animal, shall be
guilty of a Class 6 felony. The provisions of this subsection shall not overrule
§ 3.1-796.93:1 or § 3.1-796.116. I. Any person convicted of violating
this section may be prohibited by the court from possession or ownership of companion
animals. |
