Tennessee § 39-14-205 Knowing killing of animal

Tennessee Statutes

§ 39-14-205 — Knowing killing of animal

Tennessee § 39-14-205

Title39

This text of Tennessee § 39-14-205 (Knowing killing of animal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-205 (2026).

Text

(a)(1) It is an offense to knowingly and unlawfully kill the animal of another without the owner's effective consent.

(2)A violation of subdivision (a)(1) is theft of property, graded according to the value of the animal, and punished in accordance with § 39-14-105 .

(b)A person is justified in killing the animal of another if the person acted under a reasonable belief that the animal was creating an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to that person or another or an imminent danger of death to an animal owned by or in the control of that person. A person is not justified in killing the animal of another if, at the time of the killing, the person is trespassing upon the property of the owner of the animal.

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(a) (1) It is an offense to knowingly and unlawfully kill the animal of another without the owner's effective consent. (2) A violation of subdivision (a)(1) is theft of property, graded according to the value of the animal, and punished in accordance with § 39-14-105 . (b) A person is justified in killing the animal of another if the person acted under a reasonable belief that the animal was creating an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to that person or another or an imminent danger of death to an animal owned by or in the control of that person. A person is not justified in killing the animal of another if, at the time of the killing, the person is trespassing upon the property of the owner of the animal.

Legislative History

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1106, s 3, eff. 7/1/2022. Amended by 2015 Tenn. Acts, ch. 409, s 1, eff. 5/8/2015. Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1996, ch. 927, §§ 1, 2; 2004, ch. 957, § 1; 2007 , ch. 466, § 1; 2008 , ch. 1172, § 1.