Part Definitions

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Criminal Offenses
  4. Offenses Against Property
  5. Farm Animal and Research Facilities Protection
  6. Part Definitions

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As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:

  1. “Actor” means a person accused of any of the offenses defined in this part;
  2. “Animal” means any warm-blooded or cold-blooded animal or insect which is being used in food or fiber production, agriculture, research, testing, or education, including, but not limited to, hogs, equines, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, dogs, rabbits, poultry, fish, and bees. “Animal” does not include any animal held primarily as a pet;
  3. “Animal facility” means any vehicle, building, structure, pasture, paddock, pond, impoundment, or premises where an animal is kept, handled, housed, exhibited, bred, or offered for sale and any office, building, or structure where records or documents relating to an animal or to animal research, testing, production, or education are maintained;
  4. “Commissioner” means the commissioner of agriculture;
  5. “Consent” means assent in fact, whether express or implied, by the owner or by a person legally authorized to act for the owner which is not:
    1. Induced by force, threat, false pretenses, or fraud;
    2. Given by a person the actor knows, or should have known, is not legally authorized to act for the owner;
    3. Given by a person who by reason of youth, mental disease or defect, if intoxication is known, or should have been known, by the actor to be unable to make reasonable decisions; or
    4. Given solely to detect the commission of an offense;
  6. “Deprive” means unlawfully to withhold from the owner, interfere with the possession of, free, or dispose of an animal or other property;
  7. “Disrupt” means to engage in conduct that materially interferes with the operations of the animal facility in a manner such that the activities conducted by or in the facility are permanently or temporarily halted, compromised, delayed, harmed or impaired;
  8. “Owner” means a person who has title to the property, lawful possession of the property, or a greater right to possession of the property than the actor;
  9. “Person” means any individual, corporation, association, nonprofit corporation, joint-stock company, firm, trust, partnership, two (2) or more persons having a joint or common interest, or other legal entity;
  10. “Possession” means actual care, custody, control, or management;
  11. “Property” means any real or personal property and includes any document, record, research data, paper, or computer storage medium; and
  12. “State” means the state of Tennessee.


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