GroundRules
18 Pa.C.S. § 5533: Cruelty to animal.
Where this section sits in the code
- Title 18 - CRIMES AND OFFENSES
- PART II DEFINITION OF SPECIFIC OFFENSES
- ARTICLE F OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND DECENCY
- CHAPTER 55 RIOT, DISORDERLY CONDUCT AND RELATED OFFENSES
- SUBCHAPTER B CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
(a) Offense defined.--A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly illtreats, overloads, beats, abandons or abuses an animal.
(b) Grading.--
(1) Except as set forth in paragraph (2), a violation of this section is a summary offense.
(2) If the violation causes bodily injury to the animal or places the animal at imminent risk of serious bodily injury, a violation of this section is a misdemeanor of the second degree.
Collected 2026-09-02T16:31:28Z. Source file · JSON