ASSEMBLY, No. 2979

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED MAY 12, 1997

By Assemblywoman ALLEN, Assemblymen DeSOPO, Geist, Rocco and Asselta

An Act concerning violations of the animal cruelty statutes and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.

    BeIt Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. Notwithstanding any law, or rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, to the contrary, any person cited in violation of R.S.22-17 or subsections a., b. or c. of R.S.4:22-26 shall be issued a summons to appear in municipal court no later than 14 days after the date on which the summons is issued. The summons shall specify a court appearance date within 14 days of the date on which the summons is issued, shall be signed by the clerk of the municipal court, and the case shall be placed on the docket for the municipal court for that date.

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill requires that a person cited in violation of R.S.22-17 or subsections a., b. or c. of R.S.4:22-26 be issued a summons to appear in municipal court no later than 14 days after the date on the summons. The summons must specify an appearance date within the 14 days after the date on the summons and be signed by the clerk of the court. The bill also requires the case be placed on the docket for the municipal court for the appearance date on the summons.

    R.S.22-17 and subsections a., b. and c. of R.S.4:22-26 are the State laws dealing with the criminal and civil penalties, respectively, for the overdriving, overloading, torturing and tormenting of animals, including the deprivation of necessary sustenance, unnecessarily or cruelly beating or otherwise abusing the animal, needlessly mutilating or killing the animal, and otherwise inflicting unnecessary cruelty upon the animal or unnecessarily failing to provide it with proper food, drink, shelter or protection from the weather.

    The Department of Health defines proper food, drink, shelter or protection from the weather in regulations codified in Title 29 of the New Jersey Administrative Code.

Requires municipal court to hear certain violations of animal cruelty statutes within 14 days of the summons date.