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Penalties for Various Acts Constituting Cruelty.

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Executive Summary

This document outlines penalties for various acts constituting cruelty to animals, as defined by New Jersey statute 4:22-26. The statute details a wide range of prohibited actions, from overworking or killing animals to neglecting their care and engaging in activities like animal fighting. Penalties vary based on the severity and nature of the offense, ranging from fines of $250 to $5,000, depending on the specific violation.

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--- Document: Penalties for Various Acts Constituting Cruelty. Document ---
Penalties for various acts constituting cruelty. 
  4:22-26 A person who shall: 
 
   a. (1) Overdrive, overload, drive when overloaded, overwork, abuse, or needlessly 
kill a living animal or creature, or cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, 
including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, any 
such acts to be done; 
 
   (2)   Torment, torture, maim, hang, poison, unnecessarily or cruelly beat, cruelly 
abuse, or needlessly mutilate a living animal or creature, or cause or procure, by any 
direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living 
animal or creature, any such acts to be done; 
 
   (3)   Cause the death of, or serious bodily injury to, a living animal or creature from 
commission of any act described in paragraph (2), (4), or (5) of this subsection, by any 
direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living 
animal or creature, or otherwise cause or procure any such acts to be done; 
 
   (4)   Fail, as the owner or a person otherwise charged with the care of a living 
animal or creature, to provide the living animal or creature with necessary care, or 
otherwise cause or procure such an act to be done; or 
 
   (5)   Cause bodily injury to a living animal or creature from commission of the act 
described in paragraph (4) of this subsection; 
 
   b.   (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2003, c.232) 
 
   c.   Inflict unnecessary cruelty upon a living animal or creature, by any direct or 
indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living animal 
or creature; or leave the living animal or creature unattended in a vehicle under 
inhumane conditions adverse to the health or welfare of the living animal or creature; 
 
   d.   Receive or offer for sale a horse that is suffering from abuse or neglect, or which 
by reason of disability, disease, abuse or lameness, or any other cause, could not be 
worked, ridden or otherwise used for show, exhibition or recreational purposes, or 
kept as a domestic pet without violating the provisions of article 2 of chapter 22 of 
Title 4 of the Revised Statutes; 
 
   e.   Keep, use, be connected with or interested in the management of, or receive 
money or other consideration for the admission of a person to, a place kept or used for 
the purpose of fighting or baiting a living animal or creature; 


 
   f.   Be present and witness, pay admission to, encourage, aid or assist in an activity 
enumerated in subsection e. of this section; 
 
   g.   Permit or suffer a place owned or controlled by him to be used as provided in 
subsection e. of this section; 
 
   h.   Carry, or cause to be carried, a living animal or creature in or upon a vehicle or 
otherwise, in a cruel or inhumane manner; 
 
   i.   Use a dog or dogs for the purpose of drawing or helping to draw a vehicle for 
business purposes; 
 
   j.   Impound or confine or cause to be impounded or confined in a pound or other 
place a living animal or creature, and shall fail to supply the living animal or creature 
during such confinement with a sufficient quantity of good and wholesome food and 
water; 
 
   k.   Abandon a maimed, sick, infirm or disabled animal or creature to die in a public 
place; 
 
   l.   Willfully sell, or offer to sell, use, expose, or cause or permit to be sold or 
offered for sale, used or exposed, a horse or other animal having the disease known as 
glanders or farcy, or other contagious or infectious disease dangerous to the health or 
life of human beings or animals, or who shall, when any such disease is beyond 
recovery, refuse, upon demand, to deprive the animal of life; 
 
   m.   Own, operate, manage or conduct a roadside stand or market for the sale of 
merchandise along a public street or highway; or a shopping mall, or a part of the 
premises thereof; and keep a living animal or creature confined, or allowed to roam in 
an area whether or not the area is enclosed, on these premises as an exhibit; except 
that this subsection shall not be applicable to:  a pet shop licensed pursuant to 
P.L.1941, c.151 (C.4:19-15.1 et seq.); a person who keeps an animal, in a humane 
manner, for the purpose of the protection of the premises; or a recognized breeders' 
association, a 4-H club, an educational agricultural program, an equestrian team, a 
humane society or other similar charitable or nonprofit organization conducting an 
exhibition, show or performance; 
 
   n.   Keep or exhibit a wild animal at a roadside stand or market located along a 
public street or highway of this State; a gasoline station; or a shopping mall, or a part 
of the premises thereof; 


 
   o.   Sell, offer for sale, barter or give away or display live baby chicks, ducklings or 
other fowl or rabbits, turtles or chameleons which have been dyed or artificially 
colored or otherwise treated so as to impart to them an artificial color; 
 
   p.   Use any animal, reptile, or fowl for the purpose of soliciting any alms, 
collections, contributions, subscriptions, donations, or payment of money except in 
connection with exhibitions, shows or performances conducted in a bona fide manner 
by recognized breeders' associations, 4-H clubs or other similar bona fide 
organizations; 
 
   q.   Sell or offer for sale, barter, or give away living rabbits, turtles, baby chicks, 
ducklings or other fowl under two months of age, for use as household or domestic 
pets; 
 
   r.   Sell, offer for sale, barter or give away living baby chicks, ducklings or other 
fowl, or rabbits, turtles or chameleons under two months of age for any purpose not 
prohibited by subsection q. of this section and who shall fail to provide proper 
facilities for the care of such animals; 
 
   s.   Artificially mark sheep or cattle, or cause them to be marked, by cropping or 
cutting off both ears, cropping or cutting either ear more than one inch from the tip 
end thereof, or half cropping or cutting both ears or either ear more than one inch 
from the tip end thereof, or who shall have or keep in the person's possession sheep or 
cattle, which the person claims to own, marked contrary to this subsection unless they 
were bought in market or of a stranger; 
 
   t.   Abandon a domesticated animal; 
 
   u.   For amusement or gain, cause, allow, or permit the fighting or baiting of a living 
animal or creature; 
 
   v.   Own, possess, keep, train, promote, purchase, or knowingly sell a living animal 
or creature for the purpose of fighting or baiting that animal or creature; 
 
   w.   Gamble on the outcome of a fight involving a living animal or creature; 
 
   x.   Knowingly sell or barter or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, the fur 
or hair of a domestic dog or cat or any product made in whole or in part from the fur 
or hair of a domestic dog or cat, unless such fur or hair for sale or barter is from a 
commercial grooming establishment or a veterinary office or clinic or is for use for 


scientific research; 
 
   y. (1) Knowingly sell or barter, or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, for 
human consumption, the flesh of a domestic dog or cat, or any product made in whole 
or in part from the flesh of a domestic dog or cat; 
 
   (2)   Knowingly slaughter a horse for human consumption; 
 
   (3)   Knowingly sell or barter, or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, for 
human consumption, the flesh of a horse, or any product made in whole or in part 
from the flesh of a horse, or knowingly accept or publish newspaper advertising that 
includes the offering for sale, trade, or distribution of any such item for human 
consumption; 
 
   (4)   Knowingly transport a horse for the purpose of slaughter for human 
consumption; 
 
   (5)   Knowingly transport horsemeat, or any product made in whole or in part from 
the flesh of a horse, for the purpose of human consumption; 
 
   z.   Surgically debark or silence a dog in violation of section 1 or 2 of P.L.2002, 
c.102 (C.4:19-38 or C.4:19-39); 
 
   aa. Use a live pigeon, fowl or other bird for the purpose of a target, or to be shot at 
either for amusement or as a test of skill in marksmanship, except that this subsection 
and subsections bb. and cc. shall not apply to the shooting of game; 
 
   bb. Shoot at a bird used as described in subsection aa. of this section, or is a party to 
such shooting; or 
 
   cc. Lease a building, room, field or premises, or knowingly permit the use thereof 
for the purposes of subsection aa. or bb. of this section -- 
 
   Shall forfeit and pay a sum according to the following schedule, to be sued for and 
recovered, with costs, in a civil action by any person in the name of the municipality 
or county wherein the defendant resides or where the offense was committed: 
 
   For a violation of subsection e., f., g., u., v., w., or z. of this section or of paragraph 
(3) of subsection a. of this section, or for a second or subsequent violation of 
paragraph (2) or (5) of subsection a. of this section, a sum of not less than $3,000 nor 
more than $5,000; 


 
   For a violation of subsection l. of this section, for a first violation of paragraph (2) 
or (5) of subsection a. of this section, a sum of not less than $1,000 nor more than 
$3,000; 
 
   For a violation of paragraph (4) of subsection a. of this section, or subsection c. of 
this section, a sum of not less than $500 nor more than $2,000; 
 
   For a violation of subsection x. or paragraph (1) of subsection y. of this section, a 
sum of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 for each domestic dog or cat fur or fur 
or hair product or domestic dog or cat carcass or meat product sold, bartered, or 
offered for sale or barter; 
 
   For a violation of paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (5) of subsection y. of this section, a 
sum of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 for each horse slaughtered or 
transported for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption, or for each horse 
carcass or meat product transported, sold or bartered, or offered or advertised for sale 
or barter; 
 
   For a violation of subsection t. of this section, a sum of not less than $500 nor more 
than $1,000, but if the violation occurs on or near a highway, a mandatory sum of 
$1,000; 
 
   For a violation of subsection d., h., j., k., aa., bb., or cc. of this section or of 
paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section, a sum of not less than $250 nor more 
than $1,000; and 
 
   For a violation of subsection i., m., n., o., p., q., r., or s. of this section, a sum of not 
less than $250 nor more than $500. 
 
   amended 1949, c.294; 1951, c.270; 1953, c.5, s.63; 1954, c.175; 1974, c.18; 1977, 
c.229, s.2; 1983, c.103; 1989, c.35, s.2; 1991, c.108, s.2; 1998, c.105, s.3; 1999, c.307, 
s.3; 2000, c.162, s.2; 2001, c.229, s.4; 2002, c.102, s.8; 2003, c.232, s.3; 2005, c.105, 
s.2; 2005, c.372, s.16; 2012, c.52, s.2; 2013, c.88, s.3; 2017, c.331, s.13.