PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

On purpose and with bad intent, harming, trying to harm, or planning to harm a federal police dog or horse can lead to a federal fine and up to 1 year in jail. If the animal is permanently disabled, disfigured, seriously injured, or killed, the jail time can be up to 10 years. A police animal is a dog or horse used by a federal agency to detect crime, enforce laws, or apprehend offenders.

Title 18, §1368

Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Whoever willfully and maliciously harms any police animal, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not more than 1 year. If the offense permanently disables or disfigures the animal, or causes serious bodily injury to or the death of the animal, the maximum term of imprisonment shall be 10 years.

(b)In this section, the term “police animal” means a dog or horse employed by a Federal agency (whether in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch) for the principal purpose of aiding in the detection of criminal activity, enforcement of laws, or apprehension of criminal offenders.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–273 inserted “to” after “serious bodily injury”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

of 2000 Amendment Pub. L. 106–254, § 1, Aug. 2, 2000, 114 Stat. 638, provided that: “This Act [enacting this section] may be cited as the ‘Federal Law

Enforcement

Animal Protection Act of 2000’.”

§1368 Harming Animals Used in Law Enforcement