Ed. Code, § 51540 · Article 5. Humane Treatment of Animals
Ed. Code, § 51540
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
In the public elementary and high schools or in public elementary and high school school-sponsored activities and classes held elsewhere than on school premises, live vertebrate animals shall not, as part of a scientific experiment or any purpose whatever:
(a) Be experimentally medicated or drugged in a manner to cause painful reactions or induce painful or lethal pathological conditions.
(b) Be injured through any other treatments, including, but not limited to, anesthetization or electric shock.
Live animals on the premises of a public elementary or high school shall be housed and cared for in a humane and safe manner.
The provisions of this section are not intended to prohibit or constrain vocational instruction in the normal practices of animal husbandry.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=EDC§ionNum=51540.
- Text hash
- sha256 d3db1c2c02c718a80dfd52ce77fa8707d40880960eb6f15de1afd2770c2a41f1
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.