2014 Missouri Revised Statutes
TITLE XXXVIII CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT; PEACE OFFICERS AND PUBLIC DEFENDERS (556-600)
Chapter 578 Miscellaneous Offenses
Section 578.005 Definitions.

578.005. As used in sections 578.005 to 578.023, the following terms shall mean:

(1) "Adequate care", normal and prudent attention to the needs of an animal, including wholesome food, clean water, shelter and health care as necessary to maintain good health in a specific species of animal;

(2) "Adequate control", to reasonably restrain or govern an animal so that the animal does not injure itself, any person, any other animal, or property;

(3) "Animal", every living vertebrate except a human being;

(4) "Animal shelter", a facility which is used to house or contain animals and which is owned, operated, or maintained by a duly incorporated humane society, animal welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other not-for-profit organization devoted to the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of animals;

(5) "Farm animal", an animal raised on a farm or ranch and used or intended for use in farm or ranch production, or as food or fiber;

(6) "Farm animal professional", any individual employed at a location where farm animals are harbored;

(7) "Harbor", to feed or shelter an animal at the same location for three or more consecutive days;

(8) "Humane killing", the destruction of an animal accomplished by a method approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association's Panel on Euthanasia (JAVMA 173: 59-72, 1978); or more recent editions, but animals killed during the feeding of pet carnivores shall be considered humanely killed;

(9) "Owner", in addition to its ordinary meaning, any person who keeps or harbors an animal or professes to be owning, keeping, or harboring an animal;

(10) "Person", any individual, partnership, firm, joint stock company, corporation, association, trust, estate, or other legal entity;

(11) "Pests", birds, rabbits, or rodents which damage property or have an adverse effect on the public health, but shall not include any endangered species listed by the United States Department of the Interior nor any endangered species listed in the Wildlife Code of Missouri.

(L. 1983 S.B. 211 § 1, A.L. 2012 S.B. 631)