Sponsored by:
Senator TROY SINGLETON
District 7 (Burlington)
Senator VIN GOPAL
District 11 (Monmouth)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Greenstein, Cruz-Perez, Zwicker and Johnson
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits surgical declawing of cats and other animals.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the surgical declawing of cats and other animals, supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes, and amending R.S.4:22-26.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. No person shall perform, or cause to be performed, an onychectomy (declawing) or flexor tendonectomy procedure by any means on a cat or other animal, unless the procedure is deemed necessary for a therapeutic purpose by a licensed veterinarian. A person who violates this provision shall be guilty of a disorderly persons offense.
b. Whenever a licensed veterinarian determines that an onychectomy or flexor tendonectomy is necessary for a therapeutic purpose, the veterinarian shall prepare and file a written statement with the Department of Health setting forth the purpose for performing the procedure and providing the name and address of the owner or keeper of the animal, and provide a copy of that statement to the owner of the animal. A veterinarian who fails to comply with the provisions of this section shall be subject to disciplinary action by the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
c. As used in this section, therapeutic purpose means for purpose of necessity to address the medical condition of the animal, such as an existing or recurring illness, infection, disease, injury, or abnormal condition in a claw that compromises the animal s health. Therapeutic purpose shall not mean cosmetic or aesthetic reasons or reasons of convenience in keeping or handling the animal.
2. R.S.4:22-26 is amended to read as follows:
4:22-26. A person who shall:
a. (1) Overdrive, overload, drive when overloaded, overwork, abuse, or needlessly kill a living animal or creature, or cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, any such acts to be done;
(2) Torment, torture, maim, hang, poison, unnecessarily or cruelly beat, cruelly abuse, or needlessly mutilate a living animal or creature, or cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, any such acts to be done;
(3) Cause the death of, or serious bodily injury to, a living animal or creature from commission of any act described in paragraph (2), (4), or (5) of this subsection, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, or otherwise cause or procure any such acts to be done;
(4) Fail, as the owner or a person otherwise charged with the care of a living animal or creature, to provide the living animal or creature with necessary care, or otherwise cause or procure such an act to be done; or
(5) Cause bodily injury to a living animal or creature from commission of the act described in paragraph (4) of this subsection;
b. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2003, c.232)
c. Inflict unnecessary cruelty upon a living animal or creature, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature; or leave the living animal or creature unattended in a vehicle under inhumane conditions adverse to the health or welfare of the living animal or creature;
d. Receive or offer for sale a horse that is suffering from abuse or neglect, or which by reason of disability, disease, abuse or lameness, or any other cause, could not be worked, ridden or otherwise used for show, exhibition or recreational purposes, or kept as a domestic pet without violating the provisions of article 2 of chapter 22 of Title 4 of the Revised Statutes;
e. Keep, use, be connected with or interested in the management of, or receive money or other consideration for the admission of a person to, a place kept or used for the purpose of fighting or baiting a living animal or creature;
f. Be present and witness, pay admission to, encourage, aid or assist in an activity enumerated in subsection e. of this section;
g. Permit a person s place owned or controlled by the person to be used as provided in subsection e. of this section;
h. Carry, or cause to be carried, a living animal or creature in or upon a vehicle or otherwise, in a cruel or inhumane manner;
i. Use a dog or dogs for the purpose of drawing or helping to draw a vehicle for business purposes;
j. Impound or confine or cause to be impounded or confined in a pound or other place a living animal or creature, and shall fail to supply the living animal or creature during such confinement with a sufficient quantity of good and wholesome food and water;
k. Abandon a maimed, sick, infirm or disabled animal or creature to die in