Bill Requiring Therapy for Animal Torturers Is Signed

SACRAMENTO — In an attempt to stop a pattern of violence, Gov. Pete Wilson signed a bill Monday requiring counseling for people convicted of torturing animals.

The bill requires counseling as a condition of probation for anyone convicted of killing, maiming or abusing an animal.

“By requiring convicted animal abusers to receive counseling, we may stop their crimes from escalating and prevent a future tragedy,” the Republican governor said.

Wilson also signed bills that prohibit individuals or businesses from using electronic tracking devices to follow other people’s cars and that pay for acupuncture for injured workers. And he vetoed a bill that would have studied the cost and benefits of the three strikes sentencing law.

Wilson and the animal cruelty bill’s author, Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo), cited several notorious cases where people accused or convicted of high-profile crimes had reportedly abused animals.

Private individuals who put an electronic bug on another’s car to track them without their consent could face misdemeanor charges under another new law. The ban in the bill by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco) would not apply to police agencies.

People or businesses using such devices could also lose their professional or business licenses.

The acupuncture bill would allow injured workers to have their acupuncture treatments covered under workers’ compensation.

The vetoed bill by Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) would have required the Legislature’s analyst, the Judicial Council, the attorney general and University of California to study the three strikes law.

Wilson says the crime rate has dropped since the 1994 law was passed and the bill is not needed.

“There are many mysteries in life. The efficiency of three strikes, however, is not one of them,” he wrote in his veto message.