AB 377

Current law prohibits treating an animal in a cruel manner. The penalty for

treating an animal in a cruel manner is a forfeiture except that if a person

intentionally treats an animal in a cruel manner and the animal is mutilated or

disfigured or dies as as result of the mistreatment, the act is a Class I felony, for which

the penalty is a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed three years

and six months, or both.

This bill imposes the same felony penalty on a person who intentionally or

recklessly kills or harms a wild mammal or bird by pursuing or harassing the

mammal or bird with a motorboat or motor vehicle or by using the boat or vehicle to

kill or harm the mammal or bird. If a person is convicted of this felony and placed

on probation, the court, as a condition of the probation, may order the person to

receive a mental health assessment. Also, if the convicted person used a snowmobile,

all-terrain vehicle, motorboat, or personal watercraft (recreational vehicle), the

court may order that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) suspend for a

period of time, or permanently revoke, any registration certificate for any

recreational vehicle that was issued to the convicted person or any trail pass or trail

use sticker and may also order DNR to not issue any such registration certificates

or trail passes or trail use stickers to the person in the future. The court may also

suspend or permanently revoke the convicted person's privilege to operate a

recreational vehicle.

Also, under the bill, a person who kills or harms any wild mammal or bird while

operating a motorboat or a motor vehicle off of a roadway shall, without delay and

by the quickest means available, give notice of the incident to a conservation warden

or local law enforcement officer.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,

the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a

report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to

result if the bill is enacted.