Full Statute Name:  Baldwin's Kentucky Revised Statutes Annotated. Title XL. Crimes and Punishments. Chapter 437. Offenses Against Public Peace; Conspiracies. Protection of Animal Facilities

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Popular Title:  Farm animal and field crop and research facilities protection act. Primary Citation:  KRS § 437.410 - 429 Country of Origin:  United States Last Checked:  November, 2023 Alternate Citation:  KY ST § 437.410 - 429 Historical: 
Summary: This chapter concerns the protection of animal enterprise facilities in Kentucky. Prohibited acts include exercising control over a facility or its property without consent of the owner, disruption or destruction of property of a facility, entering a facility with the intent to commit a prohibited act, and entering a facility with the intent to disrupt or damage the enterprise and then remaining on the grounds knowing that entry is forbidden. Any person who violates any provision of KRS 437.410 to 437.420 shall be subject to a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisoned for not less than 6 months but not more than 1 year, or both, for each violation.

437.410 Definitions

437.415 Findings of the General Assembly

437.420 Offenses

437.429 Penalties

 

 

437.410 Definitions

As used in KRS 437.410 to 437.429, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Animal” means any warm or cold blooded animal used in food or fiber production, agriculture, research, testing, or education, including poultry, fish, and insects;

(2) “Animal facility” means any vehicle, building, structure, or premises, where an animal or animal records are kept, handled, housed, exhibited, bred, or offered for sale;

(3) “Consent” means assent in fact, whether express or apparent;

(4) “Deprive” means to withhold an animal or other property from the owner permanently or for so extended a period of time that a major portion of the value or enjoyment of the animal or property is lost to the owner, to restore the animal or other property only upon payment of reward or other compensation, or to dispose of an animal or other property in a manner that makes recovery of the animal or property by the owner unlikely;

(5) “Effective consent” means consent by a person legally authorized to act for the owner. Consent is not effective if induced by force, threat, false pretenses, or fraud, if given by a person the actor knows is not legally authorized to act for the owner, if given by a person who by reason of youth, mental disease or defect, or intoxication is known by the actor to be unable to make reasonable decisions, or if given solely to detect the commission of an offense;

(6) “Owner” means a person who has title to the property, possession of the property, whether lawful or not, or a greater right to possession of the property than the actor;

(7) “Person” means any individual, corporation, association, nonprofit corporation, joint stock company, firm, trust, partnership, two (2) or more persons having a joint or common interest, or other legal entity;

(8) “Possession” means actual care, custody, control, or management.

CREDIT(S)

HISTORY: 1990 c 61, § 1, eff. 7-13-90


437.415 Findings of the General Assembly

The General Assembly finds that the caring, rearing, feeding, breeding, and sale of animals and animal products, and the use of animals in research, testing, and education, represents vital segments of the economy of the state, that producers and others involved in the production and sale of animals and animal products and the use of animals in research and education have a vested interest in protecting the health and welfare of animals and the physical and intellectual property rights which they have in animals, and that there has been an increasing number of illegal acts committed against farm animal and research facilities. The General Assembly further finds that these illegal acts threaten the production of agricultural products, and jeopardize crucial scientific, biomedical, or agricultural research, and finally, the General Assembly finds that these illegal acts threaten the public safety by exposing communities to contagious diseases and damage research.

CREDIT(S)

HISTORY: 1990 c 61, § 2, eff. 7-13-90

 

437.420 Offenses

(1) A person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner, the person acquires or otherwise exercises control over an animal facility, an animal from an animal facility, or other property from an animal facility, with the intent to deprive the owner of the facility, animal, or property and to disrupt or damage the enterprise conducted at the animal facility.

(2) A person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner and with the intent to disrupt or damage the enterprise conducted at the animal facility, the person damages or destroys an animal facility or any animal or property in or on an animal facility.

(3) A person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner and with the intent to disrupt or damage the enterprise conducted at the animal facility, the person enters an animal facility, not then open to the public, with the intent to commit an act prohibited by this section, remains concealed, with the intent to commit an act prohibited by this section, in an animal facility, or enters an animal facility and commits or attempts to commit an act prohibited by this section.

(4) A person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner and with the intent to disrupt or damage the enterprise conducted at the animal facility, the person enters or remains on an animal facility, and the person had notice that the entry was forbidden, or received notice to depart but failed to do so. For purposes of this subsection “notice” shall mean oral or written communication by the owner or someone with apparent authority to act for the owner, fencing or other enclosure obviously designed to exclude intruders or to contain animals, or a sign or signs posted on the property or at the entrance to the building, reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden.

CREDIT(S)

HISTORY: 1990 c 61, § 3, eff. 7-13-90

 

437.429 Penalties

(1) Any person who violates any provision of KRS 437.410 to 437.420 shall be subject to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisoned for not less than six (6) months but not more than one (1) year, or both, for each violation.

(2) Any persons convicted of violating any provision of KRS 437.410 to 437.420 shall be ordered jointly and severally to make restitution to the animal facility in the full amount of the reasonable cost of replacing materials, data, equipment or animals, and records that may have been damaged or cannot be returned, and the reasonable cost of repeating any experimentation that may have been interrupted or invalidated as a result of the violation.

(3) Nothing in KRS 437.410 to 437.420 shall be construed to affect any other rights of a person who has been damaged by reason of a violation of KRS 437.410 to 437.420.

CREDIT(S)

HISTORY: 1990 c 61, § 4, eff. 7-13-90

 

 

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