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Panel weighs 'necessity' language after Senate strikes self-defense from animal-use bill
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Summary
Sen. Shanika Henson asked the committee to retain language (defense of necessity) in SB 360 to preserve a legal defense when repelling an animal attack; members probed differences between self-defense and necessity and discussed examples involving handler misconduct and child attacks.
Senator Shanika Henson presented Senate Bill 360, asking the House Judiciary Committee to consider retaining language from the Joint Preliminary Report (JPR) that frames an affirmative defense in animal-attack cases as a 'defense of necessity.
Henson said the House committee'made additions that strengthened the bill (including explicitly listing horses used in search-and-rescue and clarifying the law'enforcement unit reference). She explained that JPR'drafted necessity language because common-law self'defense is typically person'to'person and animals are legally property; the necessity posture preserves an affirmative defense for someone who uses force to repel an animal attack when no reasonable legal alternative exists.
Committee members asked how necessity differs from self-defense, whether an officer or handler who maliciously sicced a dog on a person would be covered, and how the defense would apply when the attacked person is a child. Henson and counsel explained necessity functions as an affirmative defense requiring proof of an emergency, lack of legal alternatives and reasonable proportionality of response; they argued necessity preserves a defense in scenarios where self'defense drafting might otherwise leave a gap.
Members urged careful drafting to keep defenses available for people who legitimately face animal attacks while ensuring appropriate limits on excessive force and consideration of officer conduct. The committee did not take a vote and closed the hearing after discussion.
