HB 1911, Engrossed 1 2003
   
1 A bill to be entitled
2          An act relating to animal fighting or baiting; amending s.
3    828.122, F.S.; defining the term "animal fighting";
4    revising the elements of the crime of animal fighting or
5    baiting; prohibiting certain acts associated with animal
6    fighting or baiting; providing for the seizure,
7    impoundment, and euthanasia of animals under certain
8    conditions; providing penalties; amending ss. 933.02 and
9    933.18, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the issuance
10    of search warrants and grounds therefor when laws in
11    relation to cruelty to animals have been or are being
12    violated; providing an effective date.
13         
14          Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15         
16          Section 1. Section 828.122, Florida Statutes, is amended
17    to read:
18          828.122 Fighting or baiting animals; offenses;
19    penalties.--
20          (1) This act may be cited as "The Animal Fighting Act."
21          (2) As used in this section, the term:
22          (a) "Animal fighting" means fighting between roosters or
23    other birds or between dogs, bears, or other animals.
24          (b)(a)"Baiting" means to attack with violence, to
25    provoke, or to harass an animal with one or more animals for the
26    purpose of training an animal for, or to cause an animal to
27    engage in, fights with or among other animals. In addition,
28    "baiting" means the use of live animals in the training of
29    racing greyhounds.
30          (c)(b)"Person" means every natural person, firm,
31    copartnership, association, or corporation.
32          (3) Any person who knowinglycommits any of the following
33    acts commitsis guilty ofa felony of the third degree,
34    punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084:
35          (a) Baiting, breeding, training, transporting, selling,
36    owning, possessing, or using any wild or domesticanimal for the
37    purpose of animal fighting or baiting;
38          (b) Owning, possessing, or selling equipment for use in
39    any activity described in paragraph (a);any other animal.
40          (c)(b) Knowingly Owning, leasing, managing, or operating,
41    or having control of any propertyfacility kept or used for any
42    activity described in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b);the
43    purpose of fighting or baiting any animal.
44          (d)(c)Promoting, staging, advertising, or charging any
45    admission fee to a fight or baiting between two or more
46    animals;.
47          (e) Performing any service or act to facilitate animal
48    fighting or baiting, including, but not limited to, providing
49    security, refereeing, or handling or transporting animals or
50    being a stakeholder of any money wagered on animal fighting or
51    baiting;
52          (f) Removing or facilitating the removal of any animal
53    impounded under this section from an agency where the animal is
54    impounded or from a location designated by the court under
55    subsection (4), subsection (5), or subsection (7), without the
56    prior authorization of the court;
57          (4) Any person who willfully commits any of the following
58    acts is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable
59    as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083:
60          (g)(a)Betting or wagering any money or other valuable
61    consideration on the fighting or baiting of animals; or
62          (h)(b)Attending the fighting or baiting of animals.
63         
64          Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection to the
65    contrary, possession of the animal alone does not constitute a
66    violation of this section.
67          (4)(5)If a court finds probable cause to believe that a
68    violation of this section or s. 828.12 has occurred, the court
69    shall order the seizure of any animals and equipment used in
70    committing the violationWhenever an indictment is returned or
71    an information is filed charging a violation of s. 828.12 or of
72    this section and, in the case of an information, a magistrate
73    finds probable cause that a violation has occurred, the court
74    shall order the animals seizedand shall provide for appropriate
75    and humane care or disposition of the animals. This subsection
76    is notprovision shall not be construed asa limitation on the
77    power to seize animals as evidence at the time of arrest.
78          (5) If an animal shelter or other location is unavailable,
79    a court may order the animal to be impounded on the property of
80    its owner or possessor and shall order such person to provide
81    all necessary care for the animal and to allow regular
82    inspections of the animal by a person designated by the court.
83          (6) If a veterinarian finds that an animal kept or used in
84    violation of this section is suffering from an injury or a
85    disease severe enough that it is not possible to humanely house
86    and care for the animal pending completion of a hearing held
87    under s. 828.073(2), final disposition of the criminal charges,
88    or court-ordered forfeiture, the veterinarian may euthanize the
89    animal as specified in s. 828.058. A veterinarian licensed to
90    practice in this state shall be held harmless from criminal or
91    civil liability for any decisions made or services rendered
92    under this subsection.
93          (7) If an animal can be housed in a humane manner, the
94    provisions of s. 828.073 shall apply. For the purpose of a
95    hearing provided pursuant to s. 828.073(2), any animal baited,
96    bred, trained, transported, sold, owned, possessed, or used for
97    the purpose of animal fighting or baiting shall be considered
98    mistreated.
99          (8) In addition to other penalties prescribed by law, the
100    court may issue an order prohibiting a person who is convicted
101    of a violation of this section from owning, possessing, keeping,
102    harboring, or having custody or control over any animals within
103    the species that are the subject of the conviction, or any
104    animals kept for the purpose of fighting or baiting, for a
105    period of time determined by the court.
106          (9)(6)This section The provisions of subsection (3) and
107    paragraph (4)(b)shall not apply to:
108          (a) Any person simulating a fight for the purpose of using
109    the simulated fight as part of a motion picture which will be
110    used on television or in a motion picture, provided s. 828.12 is
111    not violated.
112          (b) Any person using animals to pursue or take wildlife or
113    to participate in any hunting regulated or subject to being
114    regulated by the rules and regulations of the Fish and Wildlife
115    Conservation Commission.
116          (c) Any person using animals to work livestock for
117    agricultural purposes.
118          (d) Any person violating s. 828.121.
119          (e) Any person using dogsanimalsto hunt wild hogs or to
120    retrieve domestic hogs pursuant to customary hunting or
121    agricultural practices.
122          (10)(7) Nothing in This section shall notbe construed to
123    prohibit, impede, or otherwise interfere with recognized animal
124    husbandry and training techniques or practices not otherwise
125    specifically prohibited by law.
126          Section 2. Section 933.02, Florida Statutes, is amended to
127    read:
128          933.02 Grounds for issuance of search warrant.--Upon
129    proper affidavits being made, a search warrant may be issued
130    under the provisions of this chapter upon any of the following
131    grounds:
132          (1) When the property shall have been stolen or embezzled
133    in violation of law;
134          (2) When any property shall have been used:
135          (a) As a means to commit any crime,
136          (b) In connection with gambling, gambling implements and
137    appliances, or
138          (c) In violation of s. 847.011 or other laws in reference
139    to obscene prints and literature;
140          (3) When any property constitutes evidence relevant to
141    proving that a felony has been committed;
142          (4) When any property is being held or possessed:
143          (a) In violation of any of the laws prohibiting the
144    manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors,
145    or
146          (b) In violation of the fish and game laws, or
147          (c) In violation of the laws relative to food and drug, or
148          (d) In violation of a quarantine for citrus canker
149    pursuant to s. 581.184, or
150          (e) Which may be inspected, treated, seized, or destroyed
151    pursuant to s. 581.184; or
152          (5) When the laws in relation to cruelty to animals, as
153    provided in chapter 828,have been or are violated in any
154    particular building or place, but no search shall be made in
155    such building or place after sunset, unless specially authorized
156    by the officer issuing the warrant upon satisfactory cause
157    shown; in which case such property may be taken on the warrant
158    so issued from any house or place in which it is concealed, or
159    from any vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft in which it may be
160    found, or from the possession of any person by whom it shall
161    have been used in the commission of any offense or from any
162    person in whose possession it may be.
163         
164          The provisions of This section shall apply also appliesto any
165    papers or documents used as a means of or in aid of the
166    commission of any offense against the laws of the state.
167          Section 3. Section 933.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to
168    read:
169          933.18 When warrant may be issued for search of private
170    dwelling.--No search warrant shall issue under this chapter or
171    under any other law of this state to search any private dwelling
172    occupied as such unless:
173          (1) It is being used for the unlawful sale, possession, or
174    manufacture of intoxicating liquor;
175          (2) Stolen or embezzled property is contained therein;
176          (3) It is being used to carry on gambling;
177          (4) It is being used to perpetrate frauds and swindles;
178          (5) The law relating to narcotics or drug abuse is being
179    violated therein;
180          (6) A weapon, instrumentality, or means by which a felony
181    has been committed, or evidence relevant to proving said felony
182    has been committed, is contained therein;
183          (7) One or more of the following misdemeanor child abuse
184    offenses is being committed there:
185          (a) Interference with custody, in violation of s. 787.03.
186          (b) Commission of an unnatural and lascivious act with a
187    child, in violation of s. 800.02.
188          (c) Exposure of sexual organs to a child, in violation of
189    s. 800.03.
190          (8) It is in part used for some business purpose such as a
191    store, shop, saloon, restaurant, hotel, orboardinghouse, or
192    lodginghouse;
193          (9) It is being used for the unlawful sale, possession, or
194    purchase of wildlife, saltwater products, or freshwater fish
195    being unlawfully kept therein; or
196          (10) The laws in relation to cruelty to animals, as
197    provided in chapter 828,have been or are being violated
198    therein, except that no search pursuant to such a warrant shall
199    be made in any private dwelling after sunset and before sunrise
200    unless specially authorized by the judge issuing the warrant,
201    upon a showing of probable cause. Property relating to the
202    violation of such laws may be taken on a warrant so issued from
203    any private dwelling in which it is concealed or from the
204    possession of any person therein by whom it shall have been used
205    in the commission of such offense or from any person therein in
206    whose possession it may be.
207         
208          If, during a search pursuant to a warrant issued under this
209    section, a child is discovered and appears to be in imminent
210    danger, the law enforcement officer conducting such search may
211    remove the child from the private dwelling and take the child
212    into protective custody pursuant to chapter 39. The term
213    "private dwelling" shall be construed to include the room or
214    rooms used and occupied, not transiently but solely as a
215    residence, in an apartment house, hotel, boardinghouse, or
216    lodginghouse. No warrant shall be issued for the search of any
217    private dwelling under any of the conditions hereinabove
218    mentioned except on sworn proof by affidavit of some creditable
219    witness that he or she has reason to believe that one of said
220    conditions exists, which affidavit shall set forth the facts on
221    which such reason for belief is based.
222          Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.