Assembly Bill 401
Felony mistreatment of an animal and providing a penalty
Topics: Animal: Treatment, Crime and criminals: Battery, Legislature: Criminal Penalties, Joint Review Committee on
Stopped in committee
It never got a , so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.
-
Introduced, passed
Dec 1, 2011
-
Committee, stopped here
Stopped here. No public hearing was held.
-
Assembly vote, not reached
-
Senate vote, not reached
-
Governor, not reached
-
Law, not reached
Latest entry in the official record, Mar 23, 2012: “Failed to pass pursuant to ”
It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Corrections. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.
Following saves it on this device. New actions show on your Following page. You can also get updates in a feed reader.
Terms on this page
Committee
A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.
Public hearing
A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.
Senate Joint Resolution 1
The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.
Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary
Legislative Reference Bureau
The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.
Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary
Author
A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary
Signed on in support
Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.
Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary
What it would have done
Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.
Under current law, with limited exceptions, no person may treat an animal in a cruel manner. The penalties for a treating an animal in a cruel matter depend upon the extent of injury to the animal and whether the person acted negligently or intentionally. Under current law, a person who intentionally treats an animal in a cruel manner resulting in mutilation, disfigurement, or death to the animal, is guilty of a Class I felony and may be fined up to $10,000, imprisoned for up to three years and six months, or both.
Under this bill, a person who intentionally treats an animal in a cruel manner resulting in great bodily harm, mutilation, disfigurement, or death to the animal is guilty of a Class I felony. Great bodily harm means bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death, or which causes serious permanent disfigurement, or which causes a permanent or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ or other serious bodily injury.
Read the full summary Show less
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.
Who's behind it
6 representatives are its . 3 are Democrats and 3 are Republicans.
2 more lawmakers .
See all 8 names Hide the names
Authors (6)
- Terese Berceau · Democrat, Assembly
- Joe Knilans · Republican, Assembly
- Sandy Pasch · Democrat, Assembly
- Christine Sinicki · Democrat, Assembly
- Richard Spanbauer · Republican, Assembly
- Evan Wynn · Republican, Assembly
Signed on in support (2)
- Tim Carpenter · Democrat, Senate
- Timothy Cullen · Democrat, Senate
What happened
-
Mar 23, 2012
The session ended, and the bill died with it.
-
Dec 1, 2011
Sent to the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Corrections.
-
Dec 1, 2011
Introduced in the Assembly.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Dec 1, 2011 · Assembly
Introduced by Representatives Wynn, Sinicki, Spanbauer, Berceau, Knilans and Pasch;Cosponsored by Senators Carpenter and T. Cullen
- Dec 1, 2011 · Assembly
Read first time and referred to committee on Criminal Justice and Corrections
- Mar 23, 2012 · Assembly
Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1
Terms on this page
Committee
A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.
Public hearing
A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.
Senate Joint Resolution 1
The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.
Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary
Legislative Reference Bureau
The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.
Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary
Author
A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary
Signed on in support
Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.
Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary
From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source
Committee
A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.
Public hearing
A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.
Senate Joint Resolution 1
The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.
Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1
Legislative Reference Bureau
The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.
Official term: LRB analysis
Signed on in support
Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.
Official term: Cosponsor