West's Annotated California Codes Currentness. Penal Code. Part 1. Of Crimes and Punishments.
Title 14. Malicious Mischief. § 597f. Failure to care for animals; duty of peace or humane
officers; disposal of abandoned, sick or disabled animals; notice to owner; lien; injured cats
and dogs in public places

Citation: CA PENAL § 597f

Citation: West's Ann. Cal. Penal Code § 597f

Summary: Every owner of any animal, who permits the animal to be without proper care and
attention, shall, on conviction, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. It shall be the duty of any
peace officer, officer of the humane society, or officer of a pound or animal regulation
department of a public agency, to take possession of the animal so abandoned or neglected and
care for the animal until it is redeemed by the owner. Every sick, disabled, infirm, or crippled
animal, except a dog or cat, may, if after due search no owner can be found therefor, be killed
by the officer. all injured cats and dogs found without their owners in a public place directly
to a veterinarian known by the officer or agency to be a veterinarian that ordinarily treats
dogs and cats for a determination of whether the animal shall be immediately and humanely
destroyed or shall be hospitalized under proper care and given emergency treatment.

Statute in Full:
(a) Every owner, driver, or possessor of any animal, who permits the animal to be in any
building, enclosure, lane, street, square, or lot, of any city, city and county, or judicial
district, without proper care and attention, shall, on conviction, be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor. And it shall be the duty of any peace officer, officer of the humane society, or
officer of a pound or animal regulation department of a public agency, to take possession of the
animal so abandoned or neglected and care for the animal until it is redeemed by the owner or
claimant, and the cost of caring for the animal shall be a lien on the animal until the charges
are paid. Every sick, disabled, infirm, or crippled animal, except a dog or cat, which shall be
abandoned in any city, city and county, or judicial district, may, if after due search no owner
can be found therefor, be killed by the officer; and it shall be the duty of all peace officers,
an officer of such society, or officer of a pound or animal regulation department of a public
agency to cause the animal to be killed on information of such abandonment. The officer may
likewise take charge of any animal, including a dog or cat, that by reason of lameness,
sickness, feebleness, or neglect, is unfit for the labor it is performing, or that in any other
manner is being cruelly treated; and, if the animal is not then in the custody of its owner, the
officer shall give notice thereof to the owner, if known, and may provide suitable care for the
animal until it is deemed to be in a suitable condition to be delivered to the owner, and any
necessary expenses which may be incurred for taking care of and keeping the animal shall be a
lien thereon, to be paid before the animal can be lawfully recovered.

(b) It shall be the duty of all officers of pounds or humane societies, and animal regulation
departments of public agencies to convey, and for police and sheriff departments, to cause to be
conveyed all injured cats and dogs found without their owners in a public place directly to a
veterinarian known by the officer or agency to be a veterinarian that ordinarily treats dogs and
cats for a determination of whether the animal shall be immediately and humanely destroyed or
shall be hospitalized under proper care and given emergency treatment. If the owner does not
redeem the animal within the locally prescribed waiting period, the veterinarian may personally
perform euthanasia on the animal; or, if the animal is treated and recovers from its injuries,
the veterinarian may keep the animal for purposes of adoption, provided the responsible animal
control agency has first been contacted and has refused to take possession of the
animal.Whenever any animal is transferred pursuant to this subdivision to a veterinarian in a
clinic, such as an emergency clinic which is not in continuous operation, the veterinarian may,
in turn, transfer the animal to an appropriate facility. If the veterinarian determines that the
animal shall be hospitalized under proper care and given emergency treatment, the costs of any
services which are provided pending the owner's inquiry to the agency, department, or society
shall be paid from the dog license fees, fines, and fees for impounding dogs in the city,
county, or city and county in which the animal was licensed or if the animal is unlicensed the
jurisdiction in which the animal was found, subject to the provision that this cost be repaid by
the animal's owner. No veterinarian shall be criminally or civilly liable for any decision which
he or she makes or services which he or she provides pursuant to this section.

(c) An animal control agency which takes possession of an animal pursuant to subdivision (b),
shall keep records of the whereabouts of the animal for a 72-hour period from the time of
possession and those records shall be available to inspection by the public upon request.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any officer of a pound or animal
regulation department or humane society, or any officer of a police or sheriff's department may,
with the approval of his or her immediate superior, humanely destroy any abandoned animal in the
field in any case where the animal is too severely injured to move or where a veterinarian is
not available and it would be more humane to dispose of the animal.

CREDIT(S)

(Added by Stats.1905, c. 519, p. 680, § 2. Amended by Stats.1951, c. 1608, p. 3612, § 7;
Stats.1963, c. 1583, p. 3163, § 1; Stats.1970, c. 580, p. 1155, § 1; Stats.1989, c. 490, §
1.)