AN ACT INCREASING THE MAXIMUM PENALTY FOR PERSONS CONVICTED OF SUBSEQUENT OFFENSES OF MALICIOUS AND INTENTIONAL ANIMAL CRUELTY.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 53-247 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(b) Any person who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, tortures, wounds or kills an animal shall, for a first offense, be guilty of a class D felony and, for any subsequent offense, be guilty of a class C felony. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any licensed veterinarian while following accepted standards of practice of the profession or to any person while following approved methods of slaughter under section 22-272a, while performing medical research as an employee of, student in or person associated with any hospital, educational institution or laboratory, while following generally accepted agricultural practices or while lawfully engaged in the taking of wildlife.

Statement of Purpose:

To increase the penalty for subsequent animal abuse offenses and generally prohibit the availability of accelerated rehabilitation for such subsequent offenses.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]