FIRST REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 374
91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES FRASER, ABEL (Co-sponsors), GASKILL, OSTMANN, BARRY,
GAMBARO, BOUCHER, LEVIN, McKENNA AND WILLIAMS.
Read 1st time January 16, 2001, and 1000 copies ordered printed.
TED WEDEL, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 570.033, RSMo 2000, relating to the stealing of animals, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to the stealing of pets for research purposes and the missing and stolen pet registry, with penalty provisions.
Section A. Section 570.033, RSMo 2000, is repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 570.033 and 570.035, to read as follows:
570.033. 1. Any person who, without lawful authority, willfully takes another's animal with the intent to deprive [him] the other of [his] such property is guilty of a class D felony.
2. Any person who knowingly misappropriates another's pet or a law enforcement or rescue animal with the intent to sell such pet is guilty of a class C felony.
3. Any person who knowingly purchases a stolen pet is guilty of a class C felony.
4. For the purposes of this section and section 570.035, "pet" means any domesticated animal, including those used for hunting and working stock, normally maintained in or near the household of the owner of such animal.
5. The department of public safety shall create a registry of missing or stolen pets. The department shall place such registry on the Internet to allow registration through the Internet and allow searches of the registry for animals listed as missing or stolen. Any person who has reported the loss of his or her pet to an appropriate law enforcement agency may register such pet with the department and shall include the date and place of the notification of an appropriate law enforcement agency and any of the pet's identifying features, tags, tattoos or electronic chips in such registry. The department may adopt rules to implement the provisions of this subsection. The department may charge a fee for registration that does not substantially exceed the cost of the program.
6. Any person purchasing a pet for research purposes shall examine such pet for identification markers and shall examine the missing or stolen pet registry. If the pet is found on the registry, the person shall contact the owner for verification. In the event the person believes that the pet may have been stolen, the person shall notify a department of law enforcement of the county in which the sale took place.
7. Any pet sold to a licensed dealer for research purposes shall be accompanied by a health certificate, issued by a licensed veterinarian, that includes all identifying features, tags, tattoos or electronic chips.
8. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated pursuant to the authority of this section shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo.
570.035. 1. No person shall knowingly remove any identification marker or tag from another's pet, without the other person's permission.
2. Any person who violates the provisions of subsection 1 of this section is guilty of a class C felony.
Missouri House of Representatives