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Long hearing on SB 290 splits stakeholders over adding a statutory definition of "torture" in animal-cruelty law
Summary
Senate Bill 290 would add a statutory definition of "torture" to New Hampshire's animal‑cruelty law; supporters said a definition would help law enforcement and prosecutors, while farm and breeding groups warned the proposed language could criminalize routine agricultural and veterinary practices.
Senator David Waters introduced SB 290, a proposal to add a statutory definition of "torture" to RSA 644:8, the state's animal‑cruelty statute. Waters said the governor's commission on prevention of animal cruelty drafted the language after law‑enforcement members told the commission they lacked a workable definition when statutes use the word "torture." He told the committee the proposed definition reads in part: "torture means negligent or purposeful act or omission that causes intense or prolonged pain or suffering, causes serious physical injury, or causes the death of an animal due to such negligent or purposeful act or omission." Waters said the language mirrors definitions adopted in other states.
Waters told the committee the commission recommended the definition to give law enforcement and…
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