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Sec. 11.61.140. Cruelty to animals
(a) A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person
(1) knowingly inflicts severe physical pain or prolonged suffering on an animal;
(2) with criminal negligence, fails to care for an animal and, as a result, causes the
death of the animal or causes severe physical pain or prolonged suffering to the animal;
or
(3) kills an animal by the use of a decompression chamber.
(b) It is a defense to a prosecution under (a)(1) or (2) of this section that the conduct
of the defendant
(1) conformed to accepted veterinary or animal husbandry practice;
(2) was part of scientific research governed by accepted standards;
(3) was necessarily incident to lawful hunting or trapping activities; or
(4) conformed to professionally accepted training and disciplinary methods.
(c) In this section, "animal" means a vertebrate living creature not a human
being, but does not include fish.
(d) Cruelty to animals is a class A misdemeanor.
Amended in 1998.
Reviewed by AAHS in September 2001.
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