Statute in Full:
578.405. Citation of law--definitions
578.407. Prohibited actions against animals, facilities, equipment and records
578.409. Penalties for violations
578.412. Director, law enforcement agencies, authority to investigate--promulgation of rules, effective date
578.405. Citation of law--definitions
1. Sections 578.405 to 578.412 [FN1] shall be known and may be cited as “The Animal Research and Production Facilities Protection Act”.
2. As used in sections 578.405 to 578.412, [FN1] the following terms mean:
(1) “Animal”, every living creature, domestic or wild, but not including Homo sapiens;
(2) “Animal facility”, any facility engaging in legal scientific research or agricultural production or involving the use of animals, including any organization with a primary purpose of representing livestock production or processing, any organization with a primary purpose of promoting or marketing livestock or livestock products, any person licensed to practice veterinary medicine, any organization involved in the production of pet food or pet food research, and any organization with a primary purpose of representing any such person, organization, or institution. The term shall include the owner, operator, and employees of any animal facility and the offices and vehicles of any such persons while engaged in duties related to the animal facility, and any premises where animals are located;
(3) “Director”, the director of the department of agriculture.
CREDIT(S)
(L.1992, S.B. No. 498, § A(§§ 1, 2).)
[FN1] Revisor's note--1992: Sections “1 to 6” appear in original rolls. Sections were renumbered when bill was amended.
578.407. Prohibited actions against animals, facilities, equipment and records
No person shall:
(1) Release, steal, or otherwise intentionally cause the death, injury, or loss of any animal at or from an animal facility and not authorized by that facility;
(2) Damage, vandalize, or steal any property in or on an animal facility;
(3) Obtain access to an animal facility by false pretenses for the purpose of performing acts not authorized by the facility;
(4) Enter or otherwise interfere with an animal facility with the intent to destroy, alter, duplicate or obtain unauthorized possession of records, data, material, equipment, or animals;
(5) Knowingly obtain, by theft or deception, control over records, data, material, equipment, or animals of any animal facility for the purpose of depriving the rightful owner or animal facility of the records, material, data, equipment, or animals, or for the purpose of concealing, abandoning, or destroying such records, material, data, equipment, or animals;
(6) Enter or remain on an animal facility with the intent to commit an act prohibited by this section.
CREDIT(S)
(L.1992, S.B. No. 498, § A(§ 3).)
578.409. Penalties for violations
1. Any person who violates section 578.407: [FN1]
(1) Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor for each such violation unless the loss, theft, or damage to the animal facility exceeds three hundred dollars in value;
(2) Shall be guilty of a class D felony if the loss, theft, or damage to the animal facility property exceeds three hundred dollars in value but does not exceed ten thousand dollars in value;
(3) Shall be guilty of a class C felony if the loss, theft, or damage to the animal facility property exceeds ten thousand dollars in value but does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars in value;
(4) Shall be guilty of a class B felony if the loss, theft, or damage to the animal facility exceeds one hundred thousand dollars in value.
2. Any person who intentionally agrees with another person to violate section 578.407 [FN1] and commits an act in furtherance of such violation shall be guilty of the same class of violation as provided in subsection 1 of this section.
3. In the determination of the value of the loss, theft, or damage to an animal facility, the court shall conduct a hearing to determine the reasonable cost of replacement of materials, data, equipment, animals, and records that were damaged, destroyed, lost, or cannot be returned, as well as the reasonable cost of lost production funds and repeating experimentation that may have been disrupted or invalidated as a result of the violation of section 578.407. [FN1]
4. Any persons found guilty of a violation of section 578.407 [FN1] shall be ordered by the court to make restitution, jointly and severally, to the owner, operator, or both, of the animal facility, in the full amount of the reasonable cost as determined under subsection 3 of this section.
5. Any person who has been damaged by a violation of section 578.407 [FN1] may recover all actual and consequential damages, punitive damages, and court costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, from the person causing such damage.
6. Nothing in sections 578.405 to 578.412 [FN2] shall preclude any animal facility injured in its business or property by a violation of section 578.407 [FN1] from seeking appropriate relief under any other provision of law or remedy including the issuance of an injunction against any person who violates section 578.407. [FN1] The owner or operator of the animal facility may petition the court to permanently enjoin such persons from violating sections 578.405 to 578.412 [FN2] and the court shall provide such relief.
CREDIT(S)
(L.1992, S.B. No. 498, § A(§ 4).)
[FN1] Revisor's note--1992: Section “4” appears in original rolls. Sections were renumbered when bill was amended.
[FN2] Revisor's note--1992: Sections “1 to 6” appear in original rolls. Sections were renumbered when bill was amended.
578.412. Director, law enforcement agencies, authority to investigate--promulgation of rules, effective date
1. The director shall have the authority to investigate any alleged violation of sections 578.405 to 578.412, along with any other law enforcement agency, and may take any action within the director's authority necessary for the enforcement of sections 578.405 to 578.412. The attorney general, the highway patrol, and other law enforcement officials shall provide assistance required in the conduct of an investigation.
2. The director may promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the enforcement of sections 578.405 to 578.412. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of sections 578.405 to 578.412 shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 536.024, RSMo.
CREDIT(S)
(L.1992, S.B. No. 498, § A(§ 5). Amended by L.1993, S.B. No. 52, § A; L.1995, S.B. No. 3, § A.)
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