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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Miera

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/2/07

2/24/07 HB 326/aHJC/aHFl

SHORT TITLE

Expand Cruelty to Animal Offenses

SB

ANALYST Ortiz

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Conflicts with SB10, SB70

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Administrative Office of the District Attorneys (AODA)

Corrections Department (CD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HFl Amendment

House Floor Amendment 1 to HJC/HB 326 as amended, inserts the word “knowingly" so that

Cruelty to animals consists of a person a knowingly abandoning or failing to provide necessary

sustenance to an animal that is under that person's custody or control in a way that is not life-threatening

and extreme cruelty to animals consists of a person knowingly starving or dehydrating an animal in a way

that imperils its life.

Synopsis of HJC Amendment

House Judiciary Committee Amendment inserts “knowingly" so that cruelty to animals consists

of a person who knowingly abandons or fails

to provide necessary sustenance to an animal that is

under that person's custody or control in a way that is not life-threatening.

House Bill 326/aHJC/aHFl – Page

2

The amendment strikes that “t

he provisions of this section shall not be interpreted to prohibit

cockfighting in New Mexico."

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 326, Expand Cruelty to Animals, amends Section 30-18-1 NMSA 1978 to expand the

crime of cruelty to animals to include abandoning or failing to provide sustenance an animal

under the person’s custody or control when such abandonment or failure is not life-threatening is

explicitly a misdemeanor. Most significantly, adds a third manner in which Extreme Cruelty to

Animals can be proven, such that starving or dehydrating an animal in a way that imperils its life

explicitly becomes punishable as a felony-level offense.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The AOC notes that there will be a minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution

and documentation of statutory changes. Any additional fiscal impact on the judiciary would be

proportional to the enforcement of this law and commenced prosecutions.

New laws, amendments to existing laws and new hearings have the potential to increase

caseloads in the courts, thus requiring additional resources to handle the increase.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The AOC lists the following issues.

1)

Ss penalties increase, potential imprisonment tends to inspire defendants to retain

attorneys and demand jury trials. Indigent defendants are entitled too public defender

services.

2)

Section 30-18-1 NMSA 1978 exemption for cockfighting remains intact.

Most significant factor in this legislation, as indicated by the district attorneys, is that it will

clarify a currently fuzzy area of prosecution of and defense of animal cruelty cases where the

alleged cruelty is not providing the animal proper nutrition and/or access to clean water. The

legislation makes explicit the legal thought process that many if not most law enforcement and

prosecutors already utilize, which is to only pursue a felony-level offense in those instances

where the neglect of nutrition and hydration of the animal was/is life-threatening, and to

otherwise pursue a misdemeanor where the neglect was/is not life-threatening.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

The AODA addresses a potential conflict with both SB 70: Prohibit Cockfighting and SB 10:

Prohibit Cockfighting. HB 326 specifically notes in subparagraph (K) that “the provisions of

this section shall not be interpreted to prohibit cockfighting in New Mexico." However, both SB

10 and SB 70 would specifically strike that language from the present statute, as well as

amending the present dog-fighting statute – 30-18-9 – to prohibit any person from causing,

sponsoring, arranging, holding or participating in a fight between dogs or cocks for the purpose

of monetary gain or entertainment.

House Bill 326/aHJC/aHFl – Page

3

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The consequence of not enacting the bill is that charging and prosecuting individuals for starving

and/or dehydrating their animals to the point of threatening those animals’ lives will continue to

be something that is not spelled out as being authorized by statute. For that reason, it will

continue to be easier for defendants accused of starving or dehydrating an animal to death or

near-death to claim that such behavior is not criminalized.

EO/nt