720 ILCS 5/48-2 – Interference With Animal Research Or Production Facility

720 ILCS 5/48-2 – Interference With Animal Research Or Production Facility

This law makes it illegal to harm animals, steal, or damage property at animal research or farming places.

This Illinois law protects farms and research facilities that work with animals. It says that anyone who breaks in, steals, damages, or hurts animals or property at these places can face serious criminal charges.

(a) Definitions. “Animal” means any living creature except people. “Animal facility” means any legal place that works with animals in research, farming, or medicine, including people who own or work there and the land where the animals are kept. “Director” means the leader of the Illinois Department of Agriculture or a person the Director chooses to help.

(b) Legislative Declaration. The State of Illinois says that crimes against animal research or farming places hurt people, animals, and important work like science and agriculture. These crimes can waste public money, cause danger to communities, and stop important research. So, the state made this law to protect people, animals, property, and research work from damage or theft.

(c) It is against the law for anyone to:

1. Let go, steal, or purposely hurt or kill any animal at an animal facility without permission.
2. Damage, vandalize, or steal anything that belongs to an animal facility.
3. Get into an animal facility by lying about who they are or why they are there, if they plan to do something not allowed.
4. Go inside an animal facility planning to destroy, copy, or steal information, materials, tools, or animals.
5. Steal or trick someone to take control of records, materials, equipment, or animals from an animal facility and keep or hide them to cause harm or loss.
6. Enter or stay inside an animal facility planning to break one of these rules.

(d) Sentence:

1. Anyone who breaks this law commits a Class 4 felony, unless the loss or damage is worth more than $300.
2. If the damage is more than $300 but less than $10,000, it is a Class 3 felony.
3. If the damage is between $10,000 and $100,000, it is a Class 2 felony.
4. If the damage is over $100,000, it is a Class 1 felony.
5. Anyone who plans with another person to break this law and takes steps to do it is guilty of the same felony level as the act itself.
6. Restitution:
   1. The court will decide how much it costs to replace lost or damaged things, animals, or data, and to repeat any research that had to stop because of the crime.
   2. The person convicted must pay back the full cost to the owner or operator of the animal facility.

(e) The owner of an animal facility that has been harmed by these actions can also take the person to court and ask the judge to order that person to stop breaking this law and to stay away from doing it again.

(f) The Illinois Department of Agriculture Director and other law officers can investigate violations of this law. They can hold hearings, make rules, and work with police and prosecutors to enforce it.

View the full statute here.

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