SECTIONS 1833-1840 - California Statutes

CIVIL CODE

SECTION 1833-1840

1833. A depositor must indemnify the depositary:
1. For all damage caused to him by the defects or vices of the
thing deposited; and,
2. For all expenses necessarily incurred by him about the thing,
other than such as are involved in the nature of the undertaking.

1834. A depositary of living animals shall provide the animals with
necessary and prompt veterinary care, nutrition, and shelter, and
treat them kindly. Any depositary that fails to perform these duties
may be liable for civil damages as provided by law.

1834.4. (a) It is the policy of the state that no adoptable animal
should be euthanized if it can be adopted into a suitable home.
Adoptable animals include only those animals eight weeks of age or
older that, at or subsequent to the time the animal is impounded or
otherwise taken into possession, have manifested no sign of a
behavioral or temperamental defect that could pose a health or safety
risk or otherwise make the animal unsuitable for placement as a pet,
and have manifested no sign of disease, injury, or congenital or
hereditary condition that adversely affects the health of the animal
or that is likely to adversely affect the animal's health in the
future.
(b) It is the policy of the state that no treatable animal should
be euthanized. A treatable animal shall include any animal that is
not adoptable but that could become adoptable with reasonable
efforts. This subdivision, by itself, shall not be the basis of
liability for damages regarding euthanasia.

1834.5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever any
animal is delivered to any veterinarian, dog kennel, cat kennel,
pet-grooming parlor, animal hospital, or any other animal care
facility pursuant to any written or oral agreement entered into after
the effective date of this section, and the owner of such animal
does not pick up the animal within 14 calendar days after the day the
animal was due to be picked up, the animal shall be deemed to be
abandoned. The person into whose custody the animal was placed for
care shall first try for a period of not less than 10 days to find a
new owner for the animal, and, if unable to place the animal with a
new owner, shall thereafter humanely destroy the animal so abandoned.
If an animal so abandoned was left with a veterinarian or with a
facility which has a veterinarian, and a new owner cannot be found
pursuant to this section, such veterinarian shall humanely destroy
the animal.
There shall be a notice posted in a conspicuous place, or in
conspicuous type in a written receipt given, to warn each person
depositing an animal at such animal care facilities of the provisions
of this section.

1834.6. An abandoned animal, as described in Section 1834.5, shall
not be used for scientific or any other type of experimentation, nor
shall such an abandoned animal be turned over to a pound or animal
regulation department of a public agency.

1834.7. (a) In any pound or animal regulation department of a
public or private agency where animals are turned over dead or alive
to a biological supply facility or a research facility, a sign
(measuring a minimum of 28 x 21 cm-- 11 x 8 1/2 inches --with
lettering of a minimum of 3.2 cm high and 1.2 cm wide-- 1 1/4 x 1/2
inch --(91 point)) stating:

"Animals Turned In To This Shelter May Be Used For Research
Purposes or to Supply Blood, Tissue, or Other Biological Products"

shall be posted in a place where it will be clearly visible to a
majority of persons when turning animals over to the shelter. This
statement shall also be included on owner surrender forms. The owner
surrender forms shall also include the definition of "biological
supply facility" contained in subdivision (c).
(b) For purposes of this section, "animal research facility"
includes any laboratory, firm, association, corporation,
copartnership, and educational institution.
(c) For purposes of this section, "biological supply facility"
includes any blood bank, laboratory, firm, association, corporation,
copartnership, or educational institution that sells biological
materials such as blood or animals, either alive or dead, to research
facilities, educational institutions, or veterinarians.

1834.8. (a) At any public auction or sale where equines are sold,
the management of the auction or sale shall post a sign (measuring a
minimum of 15 x 9 inches with lettering of a minimum of 1 1/4 x 1/2
(91 point)) or shall insert into its consignment agreement with the
seller in boldface type the notice stated in subdivision (b). If a
sign is posted, it shall be posted in a conspicuous place so that it
will be clearly visible to a majority of persons attending the sale.
If the notice is inserted into the consignment agreement, space shall
be provided adjacent to the notice for the seller to initial his or
her acknowledgment of the notice.
(b) The notice required by subdivision (a) shall read as follows:
"WARNING

Horses sold on these premises may be purchased for
slaughter.

As a possible safeguard, seller can set minimum bid above current
slaughter prices."
(c) For the purposes of this section, the management of the
auction or sale shall post current slaughter prices or make them
available to sellers upon request.

1834.9. (a) Manufacturers and contract testing facilities shall not
use traditional animal test methods within this state for which an
appropriate alternative test method has been scientifically validated
and recommended by the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee for the
Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) and adopted by the
relevant federal agency or agencies or program within an agency
responsible for regulating the specific product or activity for which
the test is being conducted.
(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of any
alternative nonanimal test method for the testing of any product,
product formulation, chemical, or ingredient that is not recommended
by ICCVAM.
(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of animal tests
to comply with requirements of state agencies. Nothing in this
section shall prohibit the use of animal tests to comply with
requirements of federal agencies when the federal agency has approved
an alternative nonanimal test pursuant to subdivision (a) and the
federal agency staff concludes that the alternative nonanimal test
does not assure the health or safety of consumers.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the exclusive
remedy for enforcing this section shall be a civil action for
injunctive relief brought by the Attorney General, the district
attorney of the county in which the violation is alleged to have
occurred, or a city attorney of a city or a city and county having a
population in excess of 750,000 and in which the violation is alleged
to have occurred. If the court determines that the Attorney General
or district attorney is the prevailing party in the enforcement
action, the official may also recover costs, attorney fees, and a
civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) in that
action.
(e) This section shall not apply to any animal test performed for
the purpose of medical research.
(f) For the purposes of this section, these terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Animal" means vertebrate nonhuman animal.
(2) "Manufacturer" means any partnership, corporation,
association, or other legal relationship that produces chemicals,
ingredients, product formulations, or products in this state.
(3) "Contract testing facility" means any partnership,
corporation, association, or other legal relationship that tests
chemicals, ingredients, product formulations, or products in this
state.
(4) "ICCVAM" means the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee for the
Validation of Alternative Methods, a federal committee comprised of
representatives from 14 federal regulatory or research agencies,
including the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection
Agency, and Consumer Products Safety Commission, that reviews the
validity of alternative test methods. The committee is the federal
mechanism for recommending appropriate, valid test methods to
relevant federal agencies.
(5) "Medical research" means research related to the causes,
diagnosis, treatment, control, or prevention of physical or mental
diseases and impairments of humans and animals or related to the
development of biomedical products, devices, or drugs as defined in
Section 321(g)(1) of Title 21 of the United States Code. Medical
research does not include the testing of an ingredient that was
formerly used in a drug, tested for the drug use with traditional
animal methods to characterize the ingredient and to substantiate its
safety for human use, and is now proposed for use in a product other
than a biomedical product, medical device, or drug.
(6) "Traditional animal test method" means a process or procedure
using animals to obtain information on the characteristics of a
chemical or agent. Toxicological test methods generate information
regarding the ability of a chemical or agent to produce a specific
biological effect under specified conditions.
(7) "Validated alternative test method" means a test method that
does not use animals, or in some cases reduces or refines the current
use of animals, for which the reliability and relevance for a
specific purpose has been established in validation studies as
specified in the ICCVAM report provided to the relevant federal
agencies.
(8) "Person" means an individual with managerial control, or a
partnership, corporation, association, or other legal relationship.
(9) "Adopted by a federal agency" means a final action taken by an
agency, published in the Federal Register, for public notice.

1835. A depositary may not use the thing deposited, or permit it to
be used, for any purpose, without the consent of the depositor. He
may not, if it is purposely fastened by the depositor, open it
without the consent of the latter, except in case of necessity.

1836. A depositary is liable for any damage happening to the thing
deposited, during his wrongful use thereof, unless such damage must
inevitably have happened though the property had not been thus used.

1837. If a thing deposited is in actual danger of perishing before
instructions can be obtained from the depositor, the depositary may
sell it for the best price obtainable, and retain the proceeds as a
deposit, giving immediate notice of his proceedings to the depositor.

1838. If a thing is lost or injured during its deposit, and the
depositary refuses to inform the depositor of the circumstances under
which the loss or injury occurred, so far as he has information
concerning them, or willfully misrepresents the circumstances to him,
the depositary is presumed to have willfully, or by gross
negligence, permitted the loss or injury to occur.

1839. So far as any service is rendered by a depositary, or
required from him, his duties and liabilities are prescribed by the
Title on Employment and Service.