| | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | | Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §752-D is enacted to read: |
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| | | §752-D.__Unlawful interference with law enforcement horses |
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| | | 1.__A person is guilty of unlawful interference with a law | | enforcement horse if the person intentionally or knowingly: |
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| | | A.__Kills, mutilates or permanently disables any horse that | | the person knows or reasonably should have known is | | certified for law enforcement use.__Violation of this | | paragraph is a Class C crime; or |
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| | | B.__Torments, beats, strikes, injures, temporarily disables | | or otherwise mistreats any horse that the person knows or | | reasonably should have known is certified for law | | enforcement use.__Violation of this paragraph is a Class D | | crime. |
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| | | 2.__For the purposes of this section, a horse is certified for | | law enforcement use if the State has certified that the horse has | | satisfactorily completed requisite training for one or more law | | enforcement purposes. |
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| | | This bill affords the same protection to police horses that is | | now offered to police dogs. |
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