# Virginia SB261: Cruelty to animals; malicious killing of a dog or cat, penalty. Virginia SB261, Cruelty to animals; malicious killing of a dog or cat, penalty., is a 2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by William M. Stanley, Jr. (Republican); status failed, last action 2026-03-10 (Left in Appropriations) (as of 2026-11-06). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB261-2026 - As of: 2026-11-06 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Virginia SB261 - State: Virginia - Session: 2026 Regular Session - Title: Cruelty to animals; malicious killing of a dog or cat, penalty. - Status: failed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-01-12 - Last action: 2026-03-10, Left in Appropriations - Sponsor: William M. Stanley, Jr. (Republican) - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: Appropriations - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 9 (158 yes, 2 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 0 ## Summary Cruelty to animals; malicious killing of a dog or cat; penalty. Creates, under the animal cruelty provisions, a Class 6 felony for any person who maliciously kills any dog or cat that is a companion animal whether belonging to him or another. Currently, such felony applies only to a person who (i) tortures, willfully inflicts inhumane injury or pain not connected with bona fide scientific or medical experimentation, or cruelly and unnecessarily beats, maims, or mutilates any dog or cat that is a companion animal whether belonging to him or another and (ii) as a direct result causes serious bodily injury to such dog or cat that is a companion animal, the death of such dog or cat that is a companion animal, or the euthanasia of such animal on the recommendation of a licensed veterinarian upon determination that such euthanasia was necessary due to the condition of the animal. ## Bill overview No economic impacts identified for this bill. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: William M. Stanley, Jr. (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-04 | House | Reported from Appropriations | pass | 22 | 0 | | | 2026-03-02 | House | Reported from Courts of Justice and referred to Appropriations | pass | 20 | 2 | | | 2026-02-20 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations | pass | 9 | 0 | | | 2026-02-09 | Senate | Read third time and passed Senate | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2026-02-06 | Senate | Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-05 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-05 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2026-02-04 | Senate | Reported from Finance and Appropriations | pass | 15 | 0 | | | 2026-01-27 | Senate | Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations | pass | 12 | 0 | 1 | ## Actions (25) - 2026-03-10: Left in Appropriations (House) - 2026-03-09: Rereferred to Appropriations (House) - 2026-03-09: Motion to rerefer to Appropriations agreed to (House) - 2026-03-06: Read second time (House) - 2026-03-04: Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) (House) - 2026-03-03: Assigned HAPP sub: Transportation & Public Safety (House) - 2026-03-02: Reported from Courts of Justice and referred to Appropriations (20-Y 2-N) (House) - 2026-02-20: Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (9-Y 0-N) (House) - 2026-02-18: Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal (House) - 2026-02-12: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House) - 2026-02-12: Read first time (House) - 2026-02-12: Placed on Calendar (House) - 2026-02-09: Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-02-06: Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote) (Senate) - 2026-02-06: Read second time (Senate) - 2026-02-05: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate) - 2026-02-05: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-02-05: Rules suspended (Senate) - 2026-02-04: Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) (Senate) - 2026-01-27: Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (12-Y 0-N 1-A) (Senate) - 2026-01-23: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB261) (Senate) - 2026-01-20: Assigned HACNR sub: Companion Animals (Senate) - 2026-01-14: Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/14/2026 6:34 pm) (Senate) - 2026-01-12: Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (Senate) - 2026-01-12: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101240D (Senate) ## Bill text - Introduced, 2026-01-12: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1087024.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1087023.PDF) ## Related bills - HB20: Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees, temporary foreign workers. (signed) - SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed) - HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed) - SB253: Electric utilities; pilot programs for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed) - SB226: Compost and other products containing organic soil amendments; waste disposal infrastructure, etc. (signed) - SB225: Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank; created, report, membership. (signed) ## Sources - [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1087024.HTML) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1087023.PDF) ## Related - [HB20: Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees, temporary foreign workers.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB20-2026) - [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026) - [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026) - [SB253: Electric utilities; pilot programs for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB253-2026) - [SB226: Compost and other products containing organic soil amendments; waste disposal i…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB226-2026) - [SB225: Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank; created, report, membership.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB225-2026) - [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills) - [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB261-2026 (as of 2026-11-06).