HB 1429 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to animal fighting or baiting; amending s.
3	828.122, F.S., the "Animal Fighting Act"; defining the
4	term "animal fighting"; revising the elements of the crime
5	of animal fighting or baiting; prohibiting certain acts
6	associated with animal fighting or baiting; providing for
7	the seizure, impoundment, and euthanasia of animals under
8	certain conditions; providing penalties; amending ss.
9	933.02, 933.18, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the
10	issuance of search warrants and grounds therefor when laws
11	in 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 a fight between roosters or
23	other birds; between dogs, bears, or any other animals; or
24	between animals and human beings.
25	(b)(a)"Baiting" means to attack with violence, to
26	provoke, or to harass an animal with one or more animals for the
27	purpose of training an animal for, or to cause an animal to
28	engage in, fights with or among other animals. In addition,
29	"baiting" means the use of live animals in the training of
30	racing greyhounds.
31	(c)(b)"Person" means every natural person, firm,
32	copartnership, association, or corporation.
33	(3) Any person who knowinglycommits any of the following
34	acts commitsis guilty ofa felony of the third degree,
35	punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084:
36	(a) Baiting, breeding, training, transporting, selling,
37	owning, possessing, or using any wild or domesticanimal for the
38	purpose of animal fighting or baiting;any other animal.
39	(b) Owning, possessing, or selling equipment for use in
40	any activity described in paragraph (a);
41	(c)(b) Knowingly Owning, leasing, managing, or operating,
42	or having control of any propertyfacility kept or used for any
43	activity described in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b);the
44	purpose of fighting or baiting any animal.
45	(d)(c)Promoting, staging, advertising, or charging any
46	admission fee to a fight or baiting between two or more animals
47	or between an animal and a human being;.
48	(e) Performing any service or act to facilitate animal
49	fighting or baiting, including, but not limited to, providing
50	security, refereeing, or handling or transporting animals or
51	being a stakeholder of any money wagered on animal fighting or
52	baiting;
53	(f) Removing or facilitating the removal of any animal
54	impounded under this section from an agency where the animals
55	are impounded or location designated by the court under
56	subsection (4), subsection (5), or subsection (7), without the
57	prior authorization of the court;
58	(4) Any person who willfully commits any of the following
59	acts is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable
60	as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083:
61	(g)(a)Betting or wagering any money or other valuable
62	consideration on the fighting or baiting of animals; or
63	(h)(b)Attending the fighting or baiting of animals.
64	(4)(5)If a court finds probable cause to believe that a
65	violation of this section or s. 828.12 has occurred, the court
66	shall order the seizure of any animals and equipment used in
67	committing the violationWhenever an indictment is returned or
68	an information is filed charging a violation of s. 828.12 or of
69	this section and, in the case of an information, a magistrate
70	finds probable cause that a violation has occurred, the court
71	shall order the animals seizedand shall provide for appropriate
72	and humane care or disposition of the animals. This subsection
73	is notprovision shall not be construed asa limitation on the
74	power to seize animals as evidence at the time of arrest.
75	(5) If an animal shelter or other location is unavailable,
76	a court may order the animal to be impounded on the property of
77	its owner or possessor and shall order such person to provide
78	all necessary care for the animal and to allow regular
79	inspections of the animal by a person designated by the court.
80	(6) If a veterinarian finds that an animal kept or used in
81	violation of this section is suffering from an injury or a
82	disease severe enough that it is not possible to humanely house
83	and care for the animal pending completion of a hearing held
84	under subsection (4), final disposition of the criminal charges,
85	or court-ordered forfeiture, the veterinarian may euthanize the
86	animal as specified in s. 828.058. A veterinarian licensed to
87	practice in this state shall be held harmless from criminal or
88	civil liability for any decisions made or services rendered
89	under this subsection.
90	(7) If an animal can be housed in a humane manner until a
91	hearing is held under subsection (4), s. 828.073 applies.
92	(8) In addition to other penalties prescribed by law, the
93	court may issue an order prohibiting a person who is convicted
94	of a violation of this section from owning, possessing, keeping,
95	harboring, or having custody or control over any animals for a
96	period of time determined by the court.
97	(9)(6)This section doesThe provisions of subsection (3)
98	and paragraph (4)(b) shallnot apply to:
99	(a) Any person simulating a fight for the purpose of using
100	the simulated fight as part of a motion picture which will be
101	used on television or in a motion picture, provided s. 828.12 is
102	not violated.
103	(b) Any person using animals to pursue or take wildlife or
104	to participate in any hunting regulated or subject to being
105	regulated by the rules and regulations of the Fish and Wildlife
106	Conservation Commission.
107	(c) Any person using animals to work livestock for
108	agricultural purposes.
109	(d) Any person violating s. 828.121.
110	(e) Any person using dogsanimalsto hunt wild hogs or to
111	retrieve domestic hogs pursuant to customary hunting or
112	agricultural practices.
113	(10)(7) Nothing in This section does notshall be
114	construed toprohibit, impede, or otherwise interfere with
115	recognized animal husbandry and training techniques or practices
116	not otherwise specifically prohibited by law.
117	Section 2. Section 933.02, Florida Statutes, is amended to
118	read:
119	933.02 Grounds for issuance of search warrant.--Upon
120	proper affidavits being made, a search warrant may be issued
121	under the provisions of this chapter upon any of the following
122	grounds:
123	(1) When the property shall have been stolen or embezzled
124	in violation of law;
125	(2) When any property shall have been used:
126	(a) As a means to commit any crime,
127	(b) In connection with gambling, gambling implements and
128	appliances, or
129	(c) In violation of s. 847.011 or other laws in reference
130	to obscene prints and literature;
131	(3) When any property constitutes evidence relevant to
132	proving that a felony has been committed;
133	(4) When any property is being held or possessed:
134	(a) In violation of any of the laws prohibiting the
135	manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors,
136	or
137	(b) In violation of the fish and game laws, or
138	(c) In violation of the laws relative to food and drug, or
139	(d) In violation of a quarantine for citrus canker
140	pursuant to s. 581.184, or
141	(e) Which may be inspected, treated, seized, or destroyed
142	pursuant to s. 581.184; or
143	(5) When the laws in relation to cruelty to animals, as
144	provided in chapter 828,have been or are violated in any
145	particular building or place, but no search shall be made in
146	such building or place after sunset, unless specially authorized
147	by the officer issuing the warrant upon satisfactory cause
148	shown; in which case such property may be taken on the warrant
149	so issued from any house or place in which it is concealed, or
150	from any vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft in which it may be
151	found, or from the possession of any person by whom it shall
152	have been used in the commission of any offense or from any
153	person in whose possession it may be.
154
155	This section also appliesThe provisions of this section shall
156	apply alsoto any papers or documents used as a means of or in
157	aid of the commission of any offense against the laws of the
158	state.
159	Section 3. Section 933.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to
160	read:
161	933.18 When warrant may be issued for search of private
162	dwelling.--No search warrant shall issue under this chapter or
163	under any other law of this state to search any private dwelling
164	occupied as such unless:
165	(1) It is being used for the unlawful sale, possession, or
166	manufacture of intoxicating liquor;
167	(2) Stolen or embezzled property is contained therein;
168	(3) It is being used to carry on gambling;
169	(4) It is being used to perpetrate frauds and swindles;
170	(5) The law relating to narcotics or drug abuse is being
171	violated therein;
172	(6) A weapon, instrumentality, or means by which a felony
173	has been committed, or evidence relevant to proving said felony
174	has been committed, is contained therein;
175	(7) One or more of the following misdemeanor child abuse
176	offenses is being committed there:
177	(a) Interference with custody, in violation of s. 787.03.
178	(b) Commission of an unnatural and lascivious act with a
179	child, in violation of s. 800.02.
180	(c) Exposure of sexual organs to a child, in violation of
181	s. 800.03.
182	(8) It is in part used for some business purpose such as a
183	store, shop, saloon, restaurant, hotel, orboardinghouse, or
184	lodginghouse;
185	(9) It is being used for the unlawful sale, possession, or
186	purchase of wildlife, saltwater products, or freshwater fish
187	being unlawfully kept therein; or
188	(10) The laws in relation to cruelty to animals, as
189	provided in chapter 828,have been or are being violated
190	therein, except that no search pursuant to such a warrant shall
191	be made in any private dwelling after sunset and before sunrise
192	unless specially authorized by the judge issuing the warrant,
193	upon a showing of probable cause. Property relating to the
194	violation of such laws may be taken on a warrant so issued from
195	any private dwelling in which it is concealed or from the
196	possession of any person therein by whom it shall have been used
197	in the commission of such offense or from any person therein in
198	whose possession it may be.
199
200	If, during a search pursuant to a warrant issued under this
201	section, a child is discovered and appears to be in imminent
202	danger, the law enforcement officer conducting such search may
203	remove the child from the private dwelling and take the child
204	into protective custody pursuant to chapter 39. The term
205	"private dwelling" shall be construed to include the room or
206	rooms used and occupied, not transiently but solely as a
207	residence, in an apartment house, hotel, boardinghouse, or
208	lodginghouse. No warrant shall be issued for the search of any
209	private dwelling under any of the conditions hereinabove
210	mentioned except on sworn proof by affidavit of some creditable
211	witness that he or she has reason to believe that one of said
212	conditions exists, which affidavit shall set forth the facts on
213	which such reason for belief is based.
214	Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.