PAW Cares Act

Summary: This Nebraska statutory section comprises the state's anti-cruelty and animal fighting provisions. The cruelty provision provides that a person who abandons or cruelly neglects an animal is guilty of a Class I misdemeanor. Intentional animal cruelty results in a Class I misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class IV felony for any subsequent offense, unless such cruel mistreatment involves the knowing and intentional torture, repeated beating, or mutilation of the animal where such an act automatically results in a Class IV felony. Animal means any vertebrate member of the animal kingdom, but does not include an uncaptured wild creature (which appears to exclude otherwise heinous, intentional acts to wildlife).

§ 28-1008. Terms, defined.

For purposes of sections 28-1008 to 28-1017, 28-1019, and 28-1020:

(1) Abandon means to leave any animal in one's care, whether as owner or custodian, for any length of time without making effective provision for its food, water, or other care as is reasonably necessary for the animal's health;

(2) Animal means any vertebrate member of the animal kingdom. Animal does not include an uncaptured wild creature or a livestock animal as defined in section 54-902;

(3) Cruelly mistreat means to knowingly and intentionally kill, maim, disfigure, torture, beat, kick, hit, strike in any manner, mutilate, burn, scald, or otherwise inflict harm upon any animal;

(4) Cruelly neglect means to fail to provide any animal in one's care, whether as owner or custodian, with food, water, or other care as is reasonably necessary for the animal's health;

(5) Humane killing means the destruction of an animal by a method which causes the animal a minimum of pain and suffering;

(6) Law enforcement officer means any member of the Nebraska State Patrol, any county or deputy sheriff, any member of the police force of any city or village, or any other public official authorized by a city or village to enforce state or local animal control laws, rules, regulations, or ordinances. Law enforcement officer also includes a special investigator appointed as a deputy state sheriff as authorized pursuant to section 81-201 while acting within the authority of the Director of Agriculture under the Commercial Dog and Cat Operator Inspection Act;

(7) Mutilation means intentionally causing permanent injury, disfigurement, degradation of function, incapacitation, or imperfection to an animal. Mutilation does not include conduct performed by a veterinarian licensed to practice veterinary medicine and surgery in this state or conduct that conforms to accepted veterinary practices;

(8) Owner or custodian means any person owning, keeping, possessing, harboring, or knowingly permitting an animal to remain on or about any premises owned or occupied by such person;

(9) Police animal means a horse or dog owned or controlled by the State of Nebraska or any county, city, or village for the purpose of assisting a law enforcement officer in the performance of his or her official enforcement duties;

(10) Repeated beating means intentional successive strikes to an animal by a person resulting in serious injury or illness or death to the animal;

(11) Serious injury or illness includes any injury or illness to any animal which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes broken bones, prolonged impairment of health, or prolonged loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ; and

(12) Torture means intentionally subjecting an animal to extreme pain, suffering, or agony. Torture does not include conduct performed by a veterinarian licensed to practice veterinary medicine and surgery in this state or conduct that conforms to accepted veterinary practices.

Credits
Laws 1990, LB 50, § 1; Laws 1995, LB 283, § 2; Laws 2003, LB 273, § 4; Laws 2006, LB 856, § 11; Laws 2007, LB 227, § 1; Laws 2008, LB 764, § 2, eff. July 18, 2008; Laws 2008, LB 1055, § 2, eff. April 22, 2008; Laws 2009, LB 494, § 1, eff. Aug. 30, 2009; Laws 2010, LB 865, § 13, eff. July 15, 2010; Laws 2012, LB 721, § 2, eff. July 19, 2012; Laws 2015, LB 360, § 2, eff. Dec. 1, 2015; Laws 2022, LB 851, § 1, eff. July 21, 2022.

§ 28-1009. Abandonment; cruel neglect; harassment of a police animal; penalty.

(1) A person who intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly abandons or cruelly neglects an animal is guilty of a Class I misdemeanor unless the abandonment or cruel neglect results in serious injury or illness or death of the animal, in which case it is a Class IV felony.

(2)(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of this subsection, a person who cruelly mistreats an animal is guilty of a Class I misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class IIIA felony for any subsequent offense.

(b) A person who cruelly mistreats an animal is guilty of a Class IIIA felony if such cruel mistreatment involves the knowing and intentional torture, repeated beating, or mutilation of the animal.

(3) A person commits harassment of a police animal if he or she knowingly and intentionally teases or harasses a police animal in order to distract, agitate, or harm the police animal for the purpose of preventing such animal from performing its legitimate official duties. Harassment of a police animal is a Class IV misdemeanor unless the harassment is the proximate cause of the death of the police animal, in which case it is a Class IIIA felony.

(4) A person convicted of a Class I misdemeanor under this section may also be subject to section 28-1019. A person convicted of a felony under this section shall also be subject to section 28-1019.

Credits
Laws 1990, LB 50, § 2; Laws 1995, LB 283, § 3; Laws 2002, LB 82, § 6; Laws 2003, LB 273, § 5; Laws 2007, LB 227, § 2; Laws 2013, LB 329, § 3, eff. Sept. 6, 2013; Laws 2014, LB 674, § 1, eff. July 18, 2014; Laws 2015, LB 605, § 49, eff. Aug. 30, 2015; Laws 2022, LB 829, § 1, eff. July 21, 2022.

§ 28-1009.01. Violence on a service dog; interference with a service dog; penalty.

(1) A person commits the offense of violence on a service animal when he or she (a) intentionally injures, harasses, or threatens to injure or harass or (b) attempts to intentionally injure, harass, or threaten an animal that he or she knows or has reason to believe is a service animal for a blind or visually impaired person, a deaf or hard of hearing person, or a physically limited person.

(2) A person commits the offense of interference with a service animal when he or she (a) intentionally impedes, interferes, or threatens to impede or interfere or (b) attempts to intentionally impede, interfere, or threaten to impede or interfere with an animal that he or she knows or has reason to believe is a service animal for a blind or visually impaired person, a deaf or hard of hearing person, or a physically limited person.

(3) Evidence that the defendant initiated or continued conduct toward an animal as described in subsection (1) or (2) of this section after being requested to avoid or discontinue such conduct by the blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, or physically limited person being served or assisted by the animal shall create a rebuttable presumption that the conduct of the defendant was initiated or continued intentionally.

(4) For purposes of this section:

(a) Blind person means a person with totally impaired vision or with vision, with or without correction, which is so severely impaired that the primary means of receiving information is through other sensory input, including, but not limited to, braille, mechanical reproduction, synthesized speech, or readers;

(b) Deaf person means a person with totally impaired hearing or with hearing, with or without amplification, which is so severely impaired that the primary means of receiving spoken language is through other sensory input, including, but not limited to, lip reading, sign language, finger spelling, or reading;

(c) Hard of hearing person means a person who is unable to hear air conduction thresholds at an average of forty decibels or greater in the person's better ear;

(d) Physically limited person means a person having limited ambulatory abilities, including, but not limited to, having a permanent impairment or condition that requires the person to use a wheelchair or to walk with difficulty or insecurity to the extent that the person is insecure or exposed to danger; and

(e) Visually impaired person means a person having a visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the person's better eye with correction or having a limitation to the person's field of vision so that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angular distance not greater than twenty degrees.

(5) Violence on a service animal or interference with a service animal is a Class III misdemeanor.

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