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(1) Commit any act by which unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering is caused, <br />permitted or allowed to continue, when there is a reasonable remedy or relief, against the <br />companion animal; <br />(2) Omit any act of care by which unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering is caused, <br />permitted, or allowed to continue, when there is a reasonable relief, against the companion <br />animal; <br />(3) Commit any act of neglect by which unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering is <br />caused, permitted or allowed to continue, when there is a reasonable remedy or relief, against the <br />companion animal; <br />(4) Needlessly kill the companion animal; <br />(5) Deprive the companion animal of necessary sustenance, confine the companion animal <br />without supplying it during the confinement with sufficient quantities of good, wholesome food <br />and water, or impound or confine the companion animal without affording it, during the <br />impoundment or confinement, with access to shelter from heat, cold, wind, rain, snow or <br />excessive direct sunlight if it can reasonably be expected that the companion animal would <br />become sick or suffer in any other way as a result of or due to the deprivation, confinement, or <br />impoundment or confinement in any of those specified manners. <br />(e) Subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this section do not apply to any of the following: <br />(1) A companion animal used in scientific research conducted by an institution in <br />accordance with the federal animal welfare act and related regulations; <br />(2) The lawful practice of veterinary medicine by a person who has been issued a license, <br />temporary permit, or registration certificate to do so under Ohio R.C. Chapter 4741; <br />(3) Dogs being used or intended for use for hunting or field trial purposes, provided that the <br />dogs are being treated in accordance with usual and commonly accepted practices for the care of <br />hunting dogs; <br />(4) The use of common training devices, if the companion animal is being treated in <br />accordance with usual and commonly accepted practices for the training of animals; <br />(5) The administering of medicine to a companion animal that was properly prescribed by a <br />person who has been issued a license, temporary permit, or registration certificate under Ohio <br />R.C. Chapter 4741. <br />(ORC 959.131) <br />(f) (1) Whoever violates subsection (b) hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree <br />on a first offense. On each subsequent offense such person is guilty of a felony and shall be <br />prosecuted under appropriate State law. <br />(2) Whoever violates subsection (c) hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree <br />on a first offense and a misdemeanor of the first degree on each subsequent offense. <br />(3) Whoever violates subsection (d) hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. <br />(4) A. A court may order a person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of this <br />section to forfeit to an impounding agency, as defined in Ohio R.C. 959.132, any or all of the <br />companion animals in that person's ownership or care. The court also may prohibit or place <br />limitations on the person's ability to own or care for any companion animals for a specified or <br />indefinite period of time. <br />B. A court may order a person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of this <br />section to reimburse an impounding agency for the reasonably necessary costs incurred by the <br />