Cal Pen Code § 597 (2004)
§ 597. Cruelty to animals
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c) of this section or
Section 599c, every person who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates,
tortures, or wounds a living animal, or maliciously and intentionally kills an
animal, is guilty of an offense punishable by imprisonment in the state prison,
or by a fine of not more than twenty thousand dollars ($ 20,000), or by both
the fine and imprisonment, or, alternatively, by imprisonment in a county jail
for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than twenty thousand
dollars ($ 20,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (a) or (c),
every person who overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks,
tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, drink, or shelter,
cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills any animal, or causes or procures
any animal to be so overdriven, overloaded, driven when overloaded, overworked,
tortured, tormented, deprived of necessary sustenance, drink, shelter, or to be
cruelly beaten, mutilated, or cruelly killed; and whoever, having the charge or
custody of any animal, either as owner or otherwise, subjects any animal to
needless suffering, or inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the animal, or in any
manner abuses any animal, or fails to provide the animal with proper food,
drink, or shelter or protection from the weather, or who drives, rides, or
otherwise uses the animal when unfit for labor, is, for every such offense,
guilty of a crime punishable as a misdemeanor or as a felony or alternatively
punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony and by a fine of not more than twenty
thousand dollars ($ 20,000).
(c) Every person who maliciously and intentionally maims,
mutilates, or tortures any mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish as
described in subdivision (d), is guilty of an offense punishable by
imprisonment in the state prison, or by a fine of not more than twenty thousand
dollars ($ 20,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment, or, alternatively, by
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, by a fine of not
more than twenty thousand dollars ($ 20,000), or by both the fine and
imprisonment.
(d) Subdivision (c) applies to any mammal, bird, reptile,
amphibian, or fish which is a creature described as follows:
(1) Endangered species or threatened species as described in
Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of
Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code.
(2) Fully protected birds described in Section 3511 of the Fish and Game Code.
(3) Fully protected mammals described in Chapter 8
(commencing with Section 4700) of Part 3 of Division
4 of the Fish and Game Code.
(4) Fully protected reptiles and amphibians described in
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 5050) of Division
5 of the Fish and Game Code.
(5) Fully protected fish as described in Section 5515 of the Fish and Game Code.
This subdivision does not supersede or affect any provisions
of law relating to taking of the described species, including, but not limited
to, Section 12008 of the Fish and Game Code.
(e) For the purposes of subdivision (c), each act of
malicious and intentional maiming, mutilating, or torturing a separate specimen
of a creature described in subdivision (d) is a separate offense. If any person
is charged with a violation of subdivision (c), the proceedings shall be
subject to Section 12157 of the Fish and Game Code.
(f) (1) Upon the conviction of a person charged with a violation
of this section by causing or permitting an act of cruelty, as defined in
Section 599b, all animals lawfully seized and impounded with respect to the
violation by a peace officer, officer of a humane society, or officer of a
pound or animal regulation department of a public agency shall be adjudged by
the court to be forfeited and shall thereupon be awarded to the impounding
officer for proper disposition. A person convicted of a violation of this
section by causing or permitting an act of cruelty, as defined in Section 599b,
shall be liable to the impounding officer for all costs of impoundment from the
time of seizure to the time of proper disposition.
(2) Mandatory seizure or impoundment shall not apply to
animals in properly conducted scientific experiments or investigations
performed under the authority of the faculty of a regularly incorporated
medical college or university of this state.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a
defendant is granted probation for a conviction under this section, the court
shall order the defendant to pay for, and successfully complete, counseling, as
determined by the court, designed to evaluate and treat behavior or conduct
disorders. If the court finds that the defendant is financially unable to pay
for that counseling, the court may develop a sliding fee schedule based upon
the defendant's ability to pay. An indigent defendant may negotiate a deferred
payment schedule, but shall pay a nominal fee if the defendant has the ability
to pay the nominal fee. County mental health departments or Medi-Cal shall be
responsible for the costs of counseling required by this section only for those
persons who meet the medical necessity criteria for mental health managed care
pursuant to Section 1830.205 of Title 7 of the
California Code of Regulations or the targeted population criteria
specified in Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code. The counseling specified in this subdivision shall be
in addition to any other terms and conditions of probation, including any term
of imprisonment and any fine. This provision specifies a mandatory additional
term of probation and is not to be utilized as an alternative in lieu of
imprisonment in the state prison or county jail when such a sentence is otherwise
appropriate. If the court does not order custody as a condition of probation
for a conviction under this section, the court shall specify on the court
record the reason or reasons for not ordering custody. This subdivision shall
not apply to cases involving police dogs or horses as described in Section 600.