February 26, 2003, Introduced by Reps. Spade, Sheltrown, Tobocman, Sak and Kooiman and referred to the Committee on Criminal Justice.
A bill to amend 1931 PA 328, entitled
"The Michigan penal code,"
by amending section 50a (MCL 750.50a), as added by 1994 PA 42.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 50a. (1) An
individual shall not do either of the
2 following:
3 (a) Willfully and
maliciously assault, beat, harass, injure,
4 or attempt to assault,
beat, harass or injure a dog that he or
5 she knows or has
reason to believe is a guide or leader dog for a
6 blind individual, a
hearing dog for a deaf or audibly impaired
7 individual, or a
service dog for a physically limited
8 individual.
9 (b) Willfully and
maliciously impede or interfere with, or
10 attempt to impede or
interfere with duties performed by a dog
11 that he or she knows
or has reason to believe is a guide or
1 leader dog for a blind
individual, a hearing dog for a deaf or
2 audibly impaired
individual, or a service dog for a physically
3 limited individual.
4 (2) An individual
who violates subsection (1) is guilty of a
5 misdemeanor punishable
by imprisonment for not more than 90 days
6 or a fine of not more
than $500.00, or both.
7 (3) In a
prosecution for a violation of subsection (1),
8 evidence that the
defendant initiated or continued conduct
9 directed toward a dog
described in subsection (1) after being
10 requested to avoid or
discontinue that conduct or similar conduct
11 by a blind, deaf,
audibly impaired, or physically limited
12 individual being
served or assisted by the dog shall give rise to
13 a rebuttable
presumption that the conduct was initiated or
14 continued maliciously.
15 (4) A conviction
and imposition of a sentence under this
16 section does not
prevent a conviction and imposition of a
17 sentence under any
other applicable provision of law.
18 (5) As used in
this section:
19 (a) "Audibly
impaired" means the inability to hear air
20 conduction thresholds
at an average of 40 decibels or greater in
21 the individual's
better ear.
22 (b)
"Blind" means having a visual acuity of 20/200 or less in
23 the individual's
better eye with correction, or having a
24 limitation of the
individual's field of vision such that the
25 widest diameter of the
visual field subtends an angular distance
26 not greater than 20
degrees.
27 (c) "Deaf"
means the individual's hearing is totally impaired
1 or the individual's
hearing, with or without amplification, is so
2 seriously impaired
that the primary means of receiving spoken
3 language is through
other sensory input, including, but not
4 limited to, lip
reading, sign language, finger spelling, or
5 reading.
6 (d)
"Harass" means to engage in any conduct directed toward a
7 guide, leader,
hearing, or service dog that is likely to impede
8 or interfere with the
dog's performance of its duties or that
9 places the blind,
deaf, audibly impaired, or physically limited
10 individual being
served or assisted by the dog in danger of
11 injury.
12 (e)
"Injure" means to cause any physical injury to a dog
13 described in
subsection (1).
14 (f)
"Maliciously" means any of the following:
15 (i) With intent to assault, beat, harass or injure a dog
16 described in
subsection (1).
17 (ii) With intent to impede or interfere with duties
performed
18 by a dog described in
subsection (1).
19 (iii) With intent to disturb, endanger, or cause emotional
20 distress to a blind,
deaf, audibly impaired, or physically
21 limited individual
being served or assisted by a dog described in
22 subsection (1).
23 (iv) With knowledge that the individual's conduct will,
or is
24 likely to harass or
injure a dog described in subsection (1).
25 (v) With knowledge that the individual's conduct will,
or is
26 likely to impede or
interfere with duties performed by a dog
27 described in
subsection (1).
1 (vi) With knowledge that the individual's conduct will,
or is
2 likely to disturb,
endanger, or cause emotional distress to a
3 blind, deaf, audibly
impaired, or physically limited individual
4 being served or
assisted by a dog described in subsection (1).
5 (g)
"Physically limited" means having limited ambulatory
6 abilities and includes
but is not limited to having a temporary
7 or permanent
impairment or condition that does 1 or more of the
8 following:
9 (i) Causes the individual to use a wheelchair or walk
with
10 difficulty or
insecurity.
11 (ii) Affects sight or hearing to the extent that an
12 individual is insecure
or exposed to danger.
13 (iii) Causes faulty coordination.
14 (iv) Reduces mobility, flexibility, coordination, or
15 perceptiveness.
16 (1) A person who has received notice that his or her behavior
17 is interfering with the use of a dog guide or service animal
18 shall not, with reckless disregard, continue to interfere with
19 the use of the dog guide or service animal by obstructing,
20 intimidating, or otherwise jeopardizing the safety of the dog
21 guide or service animal user or his or her dog guide or service
22 animal.
23 (2) A person shall not do any of the following:
24 (a) Knowingly allow his or her dog to interfere with the use
25 of a dog guide or service animal by obstructing, intimidating, or
26 otherwise jeopardizing the safety of the dog guide or service
27 animal user or his or her dog guide or service animal.
1 (b) Knowingly allow his or her dog to injure, disable, or
2 cause the death of a dog guide or service animal.
3 (c) Knowingly allow his or her dog to run at large in an area
4 where he or she knows, or reasonably should know, that a dog
5 guide or service animal is likely to be, resulting in his or her
6 dog doing either of the following:
7 (i) Obstructing, intimidating, or otherwise jeopardizing the
8 safety of the dog guide or service animal user or his or her dog
9 guide or service animal.
10 (ii) Injuring, disabling, or causing the death of a dog guide
11 or service animal.
12 (d) With reckless disregard, injure, disable, or cause the
13 death of a dog guide or service animal.
14 (e) Intentionally injure, disable, or cause the death of a
15 dog guide or service animal.
16 (3) A person shall not obtain or exert unauthorized control
17 over a dog guide or service animal with the intent to deprive the
18 dog guide or service animal user of his or her dog guide or
19 service animal.
20 (4) A person who violates this section is guilty of a crime
21 as follows:
22 (a) A person who violates subsection (1) or (2)(a) or (c)(i)
23 is guilty of a crime as follows:
24 (i) For a first offense, the person is guilty of a
25 misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 180 days
26 or a fine of not more than $2,000.00, or both.
27 (ii) For a second or subsequent offense, the person is guilty
1 of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than
2 1 year or a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both.
3 (b) A person who violates subsection (2)(b), (c)(ii), or (d)
4 is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not
5 more than 1 year or a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both.
6 (c) A person who violates subsection (2)(e) is guilty of a
7 felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a
8 fine of not more than $10,000.00, or both.
9 (d) A person who violates subsection (3) is guilty of a
10 felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a
11 fine of not more than $20,000.00, or both.
12 (5) This section does not prohibit a person from being
13 charged with, convicted of, or punished for any other violation
14 of law arising out of the same criminal transaction as the
15 violation of this section.
16 (6) As part of the sentence for a violation of this section,
17 in addition to any other penalty authorized by law, the court may
18 order the person convicted to reimburse the dog guide or service
19 animal user for all expenses incurred by the dog guide or service
20 user related to the offense. The expenses for which
21 reimbursement may be ordered under this section include, but are
22 not limited to, all of the following:
23 (a) The value of the replacement of an incapacitated or
24 deceased dog guide or service animal, the training of a
25 replacement dog guide or service animal, or retraining of the
26 affected dog guide or service animal and all related veterinary
27 and care expenses.
1 (b) Medical expenses of the dog guide or service animal user,
2 training of the dog guide or service animal user, and
3 compensation for wages or earned income lost by the dog guide or
4 service animal user.
5 (7) This section does not preclude any civil remedy available
6 for violation of this section.
7 (8) As used in this section:
8 (a) "Dog guide" means a dog that is trained for the purpose
9 of guiding blind persons or a dog trained for the purpose of
10 assisting hearing impaired persons.
11 (b) "Notice" means a verbal or otherwise communicated warning
12 prescribing the behavior of another person and requesting that
13 the person stop his or her behavior.
14 (c) "Service animal" means an animal that meets both of the
15 following requirements:
16 (i) The animal has successfully completed a course of
17 training in assisting or accommodating a disabled person's
18 sensory, mental, or physical disability, conducted at a
19 recognized animal training school that provides that training.
20 (ii) The animal is identified in a document issued by the
21 training school.
22 (d) "Value" means the cost or fair market value of the dog
23 guide or service animal.
24 Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect
25 November 1, 2003.