2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 58 - Animal Protection and Welfare Act (§§ 1660 — 1684) › Subchapter II - Judicial Proceedings (§§ 1664 — 1684) › § 1671 - Fights

(a) No person shall cause, sponsor, organize, conduct or promote events in which any animal fights, threatens or injures another animal for sport, entertainment, financial gain or any other purpose, except for cockfights, practice which is regulated by §§ 301 et seq. of Title 15.
(b) For purposes of this section, a person promotes an event in which an animal fights, threatens or injures another animal for sport, entertainment, financial gain, among others, if the person:
(1) Is knowingly present or bets in such an event in which an animal fights, threatens or injures another animal for sport, entertainment, financial gain, among others;
(2) the custodian trains, transports, possesses, breeds or fits an animal with the intention of involving said animal in an event in which the animal is to fight, threaten or injure another animal for sport, entertainment, financial gain, among others;
(3) allows knowingly for any kind of event in which an animal fights, threatens or injures another animal for sport, entertainment, financial gain, among others, to take place in any location that is owned or controlled by the person, among others;
(4) allows knowingly for an animal used for such an event in which an animal fights, threatens or injures another animal for sport, entertainment, or financial gain, among others, to be maintained, lodged, trained or transported in any place or vehicle owned or controlled by the person;
(5) uses knowingly any means of communication with the purpose of promoting such an event in which an animal fights, threatens or injures another animal for sport, entertainment, financial gain, among others, or
(6) possesses knowingly an animal used to fight, threaten or injure another animal for sport, entertainment, financial gain, among others, or any mechanism intended to reinforce the animal’s ability to fight, threaten or injure for sport, entertainment, financial gain, among others.
(c) Any person who engages in any of the efforts described in this section shall be accused of inciting or participating in animal fights, which is typified as a second-degree felony.
(1) If upon conviction under any of its modalities, the accused qualifies and avails him/herself of serving time on probation or of any alternative method other than jail imprisonment, the punishment shall entail a mandatory fine ranging from ten thousand [dollars] ($10,000) to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). If the owner of the location is a recidivist, the property shall be seized to the benefit of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the crime shall be typified as a second-degree felony without the right to alternate benefits other than jail imprisonment if:
(1) The person committing the crime of animal abuse has been previously convicted of one or more offenses relative to:
(A) Any law concerning animal protection in Puerto Rico or equivalent laws or regulations from another jurisdiction; [or]
(B) any statute of Puerto Rico concerning domestic violence, child abuse or elderly abuse, or equivalent laws from another jurisdiction; or
(C) the person knowingly carries out any of the activities mentioned in this subsection concerning animal fights in the immediate presence of a minor. For purposes of this paragraph, a minor is in the immediate presence of an instance of animal abuse if such an instance is seen or directly perceived in any manner by the minor, or
(D) if as a consequence of such a fight, the animal dies.
(e) The Puerto Rico Police shall seize all animals, equipment, material and/or money present at the location where the animal fights are held, without distinction as to who is the owner of the materials or the money or who are the animals’ custodians. For this action, the procedure established in §§ 1723 et seq. of Title 34, known as the “Uniform Seizure Act of 1998”, shall be followed.
(f) The animals thus seized shall be evaluated by the Department of Health, which shall make an assessment as to the dangerousness of the animals, and should the Department determine that said animals are dangerous, the Department shall dispose of the same by euthanasia practiced by a veterinarian. Otherwise, the Department shall hand them over to a shelter, which shall have full discretion as to whether to accept or reject the animals, with the purpose, if possible, of putting them up for adoption.
History —Aug. 4, 2008, No. 154, § 2.8.