California Penal Code 597.1 Criminalizes Animal Neglect and Hoarding

Hoarding is charged under the state animal-cruelty code, not a dedicated hoarding law. Penal Code 597.1(a)(1) makes every owner or keeper who permits an animal to be kept "without proper care and attention" guilty of a misdemeanor, and authorizes a peace officer, humane officer, or animal control officer to seize the animals and place them in a shelter. The companion neglect provision, Penal Code 597(b), covers depriving an animal of necessary food, drink, or shelter; it is a wobbler punishable as a felony or misdemeanor with a fine up to $20,000. On conviction, Penal Code 597.9 can bar the offender from owning or possessing animals for five to ten years. Enforcement runs through local law enforcement, county animal control, and SPCA humane officers.

Misdemeanor under 597.1 (up to six months county jail and a fine); neglect under 597(b) is a wobbler with up to $20,000 in fines plus felony jail or prison, seizure of the animals, restitution for their care, and a 5-to-10-year animal-ownership ban under 597.9.