Bill > HB1149

This bill amends several existing laws related to animal welfare and cruelty prevention, with key provisions that expand and clarify definitions and penalties for animal mistreatment. The bill provides more detailed definitions of necessary care for animals, including specific requirements for food, water, shelter, medical attention, sanitation, and space. It introduces new provisions that make it a crime to willfully further any act of animal cruelty and expands the definition of animal abandonment. The bill also modifies penalties for animal fighting, creating different levels of severity depending on whether the fighting involves intentional mutilation. For individuals convicted of animal cruelty or animal fighting, the bill establishes mandatory prohibitions on owning or caring for animals, with penalties ranging from a two-year ban for a second-degree animal cruelty conviction to a permanent ban for first-degree animal cruelty or animal fighting. Additionally, the bill updates the criminal sentencing guidelines to include animal fighting as a specific criminal offense with defined severity levels, and provides law enforcement and animal control officers with clearer guidelines for intervening in cases of animal neglect or abuse, including the ability to seize animals and provide emergency care when an animal is in imminent danger.

Housing and Urban Affairs, Justice

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1149&Year=2025&Initiative=false