Tennessee § 39-14-214 Criminal offenses against animals

Tennessee Statutes

§ 39-14-214 — Criminal offenses against animals

Tennessee § 39-14-214

Title39

This text of Tennessee § 39-14-214 (Criminal offenses against animals) 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. § 39-14-214 (2026).

Text

(a)A person commits an offense who knowingly:

(1)Engages in any sexual activity with an animal;

(2)Causes, aids, or abets another person to engage in any sexual activity with an animal;

(3)Permits any sexual activity with an animal to be conducted on any premises under the person's charge or control;

(4)Engages in, organizes, promotes, conducts, advertises, aids, abets, participates in as an observer, or performs any service in the furtherance of an act involving any sexual activity with an animal for a commercial or recreational purpose; or (5) Photographs or films, for purposes of sexual gratification, a person engaged in a sexual activity with an animal.

(b)A violation of this section is a Class E felony.

(c)In addition to the penalty imposed in subsection (b):

(1)The court may

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(a) A person commits an offense who knowingly: (1) Engages in any sexual activity with an animal; (2) Causes, aids, or abets another person to engage in any sexual activity with an animal; (3) Permits any sexual activity with an animal to be conducted on any premises under the person's charge or control; (4) Engages in, organizes, promotes, conducts, advertises, aids, abets, participates in as an observer, or performs any service in the furtherance of an act involving any sexual activity with an animal for a commercial or recreational purpose; or (5) Photographs or films, for purposes of sexual gratification, a person engaged in a sexual activity with an animal. (b) A violation of this section is a Class E felony. (c) In addition to the penalty imposed in subsection (b): (1) The court may order that the convicted person do any of the following: (A) Not harbor or own animals or reside in any household where animals are present; (B) Participate in appropriate counseling at the defendant's expense; or (C) Reimburse the animal shelter or humane society for any reasonable costs incurred for the care and maintenance of any animals taken to the animal shelter or humane society as a result of conduct proscribed in subsection (a); and (2) Notwithstanding § 40-35-111 , the court shall prohibit the convicted person from having custody of any companion animal, as defined in § 39-14-212(b) , for a period of at least two (2) years from the date of conviction and may impose a lifetime prohibition. The court shall prohibit any person convicted of a second or subsequent offense under this section from having custody of any companion animal for the person's lifetime. (d) Nothing in this section may be considered to prohibit accepted animal husbandry practices or accepted veterinary medical practices. (e) If the court has reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of this section has occurred, the court may order the seizure of all animals involved in the alleged violation as a condition of bond of a person charged with a violation. (f) For purposes of this section: (1) "Animal" has the same meaning as the term is defined in § 63-12-103 ; (2) "Photographs" or "films" means the making of a photograph, motion picture film, videotape, digital image, or any other recording, sale, or transmission of the image; and (3) "Sexual activity" means physical sexual contact between the person and the animal.