(a) A person commits an offense who knowingly:

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class E felony1 to 6 yearsup to $3,000
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
criminal case

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 39-14-214

  • Animal: means a domesticated living creature or a wild creature previously captured. See Tennessee Code 39-14-201
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Person: includes the singular and the plural and means and includes any individual, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency, or other organization or other legal entity, or any agent or servant thereof. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
(1) Engages in any sexual activity with an animal;
(2) Causes, aids, or abets another person to engage in any sexual activity with an animal;
(3) Permits any sexual activity with an animal to be conducted on any premises under the person’s charge or control;
(4) Engages in, organizes, promotes, conducts, advertises, aids, abets, participates in as an observer, or performs any service in the furtherance of an act involving any sexual activity with an animal for a commercial or recreational purpose; or
(5) Photographs or films, for purposes of sexual gratification, a person engaged in a sexual activity with an animal.
(b) A violation of this section is a Class E felony.
(c) In addition to the penalty imposed in subsection (b):

(1) The court may order that the convicted person do any of the following:

(A) Not harbor or own animals or reside in any household where animals are present;
(B) Participate in appropriate counseling at the defendant‘s expense; or
(C) Reimburse the animal shelter or humane society for any reasonable costs incurred for the care and maintenance of any animals taken to the animal shelter or humane society as a result of conduct proscribed in subsection (a); and
(2) Notwithstanding § 40-35-111, the court shall prohibit the convicted person from having custody of any companion animal, as defined in § 39-14-212(b), for a period of at least two (2) years from the date of conviction and may impose a lifetime prohibition. The court shall prohibit any person convicted of a second or subsequent offense under this section from having custody of any companion animal for the person’s lifetime.
(d) Nothing in this section may be considered to prohibit accepted animal husbandry practices or accepted veterinary medical practices.
(e) If the court has reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of this section has occurred, the court may order the seizure of all animals involved in the alleged violation as a condition of bond of a person charged with a violation.
(f) For purposes of this section:

(1) “Animal” has the same meaning as the term is defined in § 63-12-103;
(2) “Photographs” or “films” means the making of a photograph, motion picture film, videotape, digital image, or any other recording, sale, or transmission of the image; and
(3) “Sexual activity” means physical sexual contact between the person and the animal.
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