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Swan Laws |  |
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Swan Laws | |
| Swans are protected by federal laws under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. |
| Swans are a protected species in Connecticut. |
| Swans are protected by animal cruelty laws. |
| The following are considered crimes punishable by federal and/or state laws: |
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| If you see anybody committing any of these crimes contact your local animal control officer. |
| Swans have the right of way!!! |
| If you encounter a swan in the wild, the swan has the right of way even if the swan is on your own property. If you are fishing or hunting and a swan approaches you to chase you out of its territory, you must leave without injuring or antagonizing the swan. If you antagonize the swan into an attack or injure or kill the swan, you are committing a crime. If the swan is on your property in close proximity your living area and would like to have the swan(s) removed, you must contact the US Fish And Wildlife Service to have the swan(s) removed. Swans are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and it is a federal crime to take or kill a swan or its eggs. |
Sec. 26-94. Hunting swan prohibited. Any person who hunts, takes, wounds or kills or attempts to hunt, take, wound or kill any species of swan, including the whistling swan (Cygnus columbianus), the trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator) and the mute swan (Stehenelides olor), shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or be imprisoned not more than thirty days or both.
§ 53-247. Cruelty to animals. Intentional killing of police animal
(a) Any person who overdrives, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, deprives of necessary sustenance, mutilates or cruelly beats or kills or unjustifiably injures any animal, or who, having impounded or confined any animal, fails to give such animal proper care or neglects to cage or restrain any such animal from doing injury to itself or to another animal or fails to supply any such animal with wholesome air, food and water, or unjustifiably administers any poisonous or noxious drug or substance to any domestic animal or unjustifiably exposes any such drug or substance, with intent that the same shall be taken by an animal, or causes it to be done, or, having charge or custody of any animal, inflicts cruelty upon it or fails to provide it with proper food, drink or protection from the weather or abandons it or carries it or causes it to be carried in a cruel manner, or sets on foot, instigates, promotes or carries on or performs any act as assistant, umpire or principal in, or is a witness of, or in any way aids in or engages in the furtherance of, any fight between cocks or other birds, dogs or other animals, premeditated by any person owning, or having custody of, such birds or animals, or fights with or baits, harasses or worries any animal for the purpose of making it perform for amusement, diversion or exhibition, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year or both.
(b) Any person who intentionally kills any animal while such animal is in the performance of its duties under the supervision of a peace officer, as defined in section 53a-3, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years or both.
Connecticut
CONN. GEN. STAT. §§ 53-247 et seq. -- last amended 1996
Definition of Animal: All brute creatures and birds.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Overdrives, overloads, overworks, tortures, deprives of necessary sustenance, mutilates or cruelly beats or kills or unjustifiably injures any animal, or fails to provide any confined animal with proper care such as wholesome air, food and water, or administers a poisonous or noxious drug, or abandons or carries in a cruel manner, or fights, baits or harasses an animal for the purpose of making it perform.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care.
Unique Provisions: Humane poultry transport.
Exemptions: Farming, hunting, research, veterinary care.
http://www.api4animals.org/doc.asp?ID=47#Connecticut
Mute Swans are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
It is a FEDERAL crime to kill a mute swan or take eggs from their nests.
Sec. 703. - Taking, killing, or possessing migratory birds unlawful
Unless and except as permitted by regulations made as hereinafter provided in this subchapter, it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means or in any manner, to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to barter, barter, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, export, import, cause to be shipped, exported, or imported, deliver for transportation, transport or cause to be transported, carry or cause to be carried, or receive for shipment, transportation, carriage, or export, any migratory bird, any part, nest, or eggs of any such bird, or any product, whether or not manufactured, which consists, or is composed in whole or part, of any such bird or any part, nest, or egg thereof, included in the terms of the conventions between the United States and Great Britain for the protection of migratory birds concluded August 16, 1916 (39 Stat. 1702), the United States and the United Mexican States for the protection of migratory birds and game mammals concluded February 7, 1936, the United States and the Government of Japan for the protection of migratory birds and birds in danger of extinction, and their environment concluded March 4, 1972 (FOOTNOTE 1) and the convention between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for the conservation of migratory birds and their environments concluded November 19, 1976.
Sec. 707. - Violations and penalties; forfeitures
Except as otherwise provided in this section, any person, association, partnership, or corporation who shall violate any provisions of said conventions or of this subchapter, or who shall violate or fail to comply with any regulation made pursuant to this subchapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $15,000 or be imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
Whoever, in violation of this subchapter, shall knowingly -
take by any manner whatsoever any migratory bird with intent to sell, offer to sell, barter or offer to barter such bird, or
sell, offer for sale, barter or offer to barter, any migratory bird shall be guilty of a felony and shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
Whoever violates section 704(b)(2) of this title shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.
All guns, traps, nets and other equipment, vessels, vehicles, and other means of transportation used by any person when engaged in pursuing, hunting, taking, trapping, ensnaring, capturing, killing, or attempting to take, capture, or kill any migratory bird in violation of this subchapter with the intent to offer for sale, or sell, or offer for barter, or barter such bird in violation of this subchapter shall be forfeited to the United States and may be seized and held pending the prosecution of any person arrested for violating this subchapter and upon conviction for such violation, such forfeiture shall be adjudicated as a penalty in addition to any other provided for violation of this subchapter. Such forfeited property shall be disposed of and accounted for by, and under the authority of, the Secretary of the Interior
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/16/ch7.html
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| Copyright 2001, 2002 Christopher Ruel. (www.ChrisRuel.com) All Rights Reserved. | |
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