Title 167 · ORS Chapter 167

to 167.351:

Citation: ORS 167.310

Section: 167.310

167.310 to 167.351:

�� (1) �Adequate bedding� means bedding of sufficient quantity and quality to permit a domestic animal to remain dry and reasonably clean and maintain a normal body temperature.

�� (2)(a) �Adequate shelter� includes a barn, doghouse or other enclosed structure sufficient to protect a domestic animal from wind, rain, snow or sun, that has adequate bedding to protect against cold and dampness and that is maintained to protect the domestic animal from weather and physical injury.

�� (b) �Adequate shelter� does not include:

�� (A) Crawl spaces under buildings or parts of buildings, such as steps, decks or stoops;

�� (B) The space under a vehicle;

�� (C) The inside of a vehicle if the domestic animal is kept in the vehicle in a manner or for a length of time that is likely to be detrimental to the domestic animal�s health or safety;

�� (D) Shelters made from cardboard or other materials that are easily degraded by the elements;

�� (E) Animal carriers or crates that are designed to provide temporary housing;

�� (F) Shelters with wire or chain-link floors, unless the domestic animal is a bird; or

�� (G) Shelters surrounded by waste, debris, obstructions or impediments that could adversely affect an animal�s health.

�� (3) �Animal� means any nonhuman mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian or fish.

�� (4) �Domestic animal� means an animal, other than livestock or equines, that is owned or possessed by a person.

�� (5) �Equine� means a horse, pony, donkey, mule, hinny, zebra or a hybrid of any of these animals.

�� (6) �Good animal husbandry� includes, but is not limited to, the dehorning of cattle, the docking of horses, sheep or swine, and the castration or neutering of livestock, according to accepted practices of veterinary medicine or animal husbandry.

�� (7) �Law enforcement animal� means a dog or horse used in law enforcement work under the control of a corrections officer, parole and probation officer, police officer or youth correction officer, as those terms are defined in ORS 181A.355, who has successfully completed at least 360 hours of training in the care and use of a law enforcement animal, or who has passed the demonstration of minimum standards established by the Oregon Police Canine Association or other accredited and recognized animal handling organization.

�� (8)(a) �Livestock,� except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, has the meaning provided in ORS 609.125.

�� (b) �Livestock� does not include psittacines.

�� (9) �Minimum care� means care sufficient to preserve the health and well-being of an animal and, except for emergencies or circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the owner, includes, but is not limited to, the following requirements:

�� (a) Food of sufficient quantity and quality to allow for normal growth or maintenance of body weight.

�� (b) Open or adequate access to potable water in sufficient quantity to satisfy the animal�s needs. Access to snow or ice is not adequate access to potable water.

�� (c) For a domestic animal other than a dog engaged in herding or protecting livestock, access to adequate shelter.

�� (d) Veterinary care deemed necessary by a reasonably prudent person to relieve distress from injury, neglect or disease.

�� (e) For a domestic animal, continuous access to an area:

�� (A) With adequate space for exercise necessary for the health of the animal;

�� (B) With air temperature suitable for the animal; and

�� (C) Kept reasonably clean and free from excess waste or other contaminants that could affect the animal�s health.

�� (f) For a livestock animal that cannot walk or stand without assistance:

�� (A) Humane euthanasia; or

�� (B) The provision of immediate and ongoing care to restore the animal to an ambulatory state.

�� (10) �Physical injury� means physical trauma, impairment of physical condition or substantial pain.

�� (11) �Physical trauma� means fractures, cuts, punctures, bruises, burns or other wounds.

�� (12) �Possess� has the meaning provided in ORS 161.015.

�� (13) �Serious physical injury� means physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes protracted disfigurement, protracted impairment of health or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a limb or bodily organ.

�� (14)(a) �Tethering� means to restrain a domestic animal by tying the domestic animal to any object or structure by any means.

�� (b) �Tethering� does not include using a handheld leash for the purpose of walking a domestic animal.

�� (15) �Visual recording� includes, but is not limited to, photographs, films, videotapes and computer and other digital pictures, regardless of the manner in which the recording is stored. [1985 c.662 �1; 1995 c.663 �3; 1999 c.756 �13; 2001 c.926 �7; 2003 c.543 �6; 2003 c.549 �1; 2005 c.264 �18; 2009 c.233 �2; 2013 c.382 �3; 2017 c.677 �2; 2024 c.41 �1a]

�� 167.312 Research and animal interference. (1) A person commits the crime of research and animal interference if the person:

�� (a) With the intent to interfere with research, releases, steals or otherwise causes the death, injury or loss of any animal at or from an animal research facility.

�� (b) With the intent to interfere with research, damages, vandalizes or steals any property in or on an animal research facility.

�� (c) With the intent to interfere with research, obtains access to an animal research facility to perform acts not authorized by that facility.

�� (d) Obtains or exerts unauthorized control over records, data, materials, equipment or animals of any animal research facility with the intent to interfere with research by concealing, abandoning or destroying such records, data, materials, equipment or animals.

�� (e) With the intent to interfere with research, possesses or uses equipment or animals that the person reasonably believes have been obtained by theft or deception from an animal research facility or without the authorization of an animal research facility.

�� (2) For the purposes of this section, �animal research facility� means any facility engaging in legal scientific research or teaching involving the use of animals.

�� (3) Research and animal interference is a:

�� (a) Class C felony if damage to the animal research facility is $2,500 or more; or

�� (b) Class A misdemeanor if there is no damage to the facility or if damage to the animal research facility is less than $2,500.

�� (4) Determination of damages to an animal research facility shall be made by the court. In making its determination, the court shall consider the reasonable costs of:

�� (a) Replacing lost, injured or destroyed animals;

�� (b) Restoring the animal research facility to the approximate condition of the facility before the damage occurred; and

�� (c) Replacing damaged or missing records, data, material or equipment.

�� (5) In addition to any other penalty imposed for violation of this section, a person convicted of such violation is liable:

�� (a) To the owner of the animal for damages, including the costs of restoring the animal to confinement and to its health condition prior to commission of the acts constituting the violation;

�� (b) For damages to real and personal property caused by acts constituting the violation; and

�� (c) For the costs of repeating an experiment, including the replacement of the animals, labor and materials, if acts constituting the violation cause the failure of an experiment. [1991 c.843 �2; 2001 c.147 �2; 2001 c.554 �1]

�� 167.315 Animal abuse in the second degree. (1) A person commits the crime of animal abuse in the second degree if, except as otherwise authorized by law, the person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes physical injury to an animal.

�� (2) Any practice of good animal husbandry is not a violation of this section.

�� (3) Animal abuse in the second degree is a Class B misdemeanor. [1985 c.662 �2]

�� 167.320 Animal abuse in the first degree. (1) A person commits the crime of animal abuse in the first degree if, except as otherwise authorized by law, the person recklessly causes serious physical injury or death to an animal.

�� (2) Any practice of good animal husbandry is not a violation of this section.

�� (3) Animal abuse in the first degree is a Class A misdemeanor.

�� (4) Notwithstanding subsection (3) of this section, animal abuse in the first degree is a Class C felony if:

�� (a) The person committing the animal abuse has previously been convicted of one or more of the following offenses:

�� (A) Any offense under ORS 163.160, 163.165, 163.175, 163.185 or 163.187 or the equivalent laws of another jurisdiction, if the offense involved domestic violence as defined in ORS 135.230 or the offense was committed against a minor child; or

�� (B) Any offense under this section or ORS 167.322, or the equivalent laws of another jurisdiction; or

�� (b) The person knowingly commits the animal abuse in the immediate presence of a minor child. For purposes of this paragraph, a minor child is in the immediate presence of animal abuse if the abuse is seen or directly perceived in any other manner by the minor child.

�� (5) When animal abuse in the first degree is a felony, the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission shall classify the offense as crime category 6 of the sentencing guidelines grid.

�� (6) Notwithstanding subsection (5) of this section, when animal abuse in the first degree is a felony because of circumstances described in subsection (4)(b) of this section, the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission shall classify the offense as crime category 7 of the sentencing guidelines grid. [1985 c.662 �3; 2001 c.926 �8; 2003 c.577 �8; 2013 c.719 �2; 2024 c.30 �3]

�� 167.322 Aggravated animal abuse in the first degree. (1) A person commits the crime of aggravated animal abuse in the first degree if, except as otherwise authorized by law, the person intentionally or knowingly:

�� (a) Tortures an animal;

�� (b) Causes serious physical injury or death to an animal; or

�� (c) Creates a visual recording of an act described in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection.

�� (2) Any practice of good animal husbandry is not a violation of this section.

�� (3) Aggravated animal abuse in the first degree is a Class C felony and the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission shall classify the offense as crime category 6 of the sentencing guidelines grid.

�� (4) Notwithstanding subsection (3) of this section, the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission shall classify the offense of aggravated animal abuse in the first degree as crime category 7 of the sentencing guidelines grid if:

�� (a) The person committing the animal abuse has previously been convicted of one or more of the following offenses:

�� (B) Any offense under this section or ORS 167.320, or the equivalent laws of another jurisdiction; or

�� (5) As used in this section, �torture� means an action taken for the primary purpose of inflicting pain. [1995 c.663 �2; 2001 c.926 �9; 2013 c.719 �3; 2024 c.30 �4; 2024 c.41 �2a]

�� 167.323 Encouraging aggravated animal abuse in the second degree. (1) A person commits the crime of encouraging aggravated animal abuse in the second degree if the person:

�� (a)(A)(i) Knowingly possesses or controls, or knowingly accesses with the intent to view, a visual recording of an act described in ORS 167.322 (1)(a) or (b); or

�� (ii) Knowingly pays, exchanges or gives anything of value to obtain or view a visual recording of an act described in ORS 167.322 (1)(a) or (b); and

�� (B) Knows or is aware of and consciously disregards the fact that creation of the visual recording of an act described in ORS 167.322 (1)(a) or (b) involved aggravated animal abuse; or

�� (b)(A) Knowingly pays, exchanges or gives anything of value to observe an act described in ORS