Harming or Threatening a Pet in a Domestic Dispute: Michigan Law

Michigan law treats harming a pet to hurt or control a person as a serious crime in its own right. Under MCL 750.50b, a person who kills, tortures, mutilates, maims, disfigures, or poisons an animal, or threatens to, "with the intent to cause mental suffering or distress to a person or to exert control over a person" commits a felony.^[1] When the animal is a companion animal, a threat alone is punishable by up to 7 years in prison and the completed act by up to 10.^[1][2]

If you are afraid for yourself or an animal in your home, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is free, confidential, and available 24/7 at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or by texting START to 88788.^[6] Michigan's statewide VOICES4 hotline takes calls and texts at 855-864-2374.^[7][8] If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.

This page explains the criminal statutes, the penalties, how a personal protection order (PPO) can cover an animal, and where federal law comes in.

What does MCL 750.50b prohibit?

The statute, titled killing or torturing animals, lists four things a person may not do without just cause:^[9]

• Knowingly kill, torture, mutilate, maim, or disfigure an animal.^[9]
• Commit a reckless act knowing or having reason to know that it will cause an animal to be killed, tortured, mutilated, maimed, or disfigured.^[9]
• Knowingly administer poison to an animal, or knowingly expose an animal to a poisonous substance with the intent that the animal take or swallow it.^[9]
• Do, or threaten to do, the first or third of those things with the intent to cause mental suffering or distress to a person or to exert control over a person.^[9]

The fourth item is the one written for domestic situations. It reaches the person who hurts a partner's dog to punish the partner, and the person who says the cat will be killed if the partner leaves. No injury to the animal is needed for the threat form: the statute covers a person who "threaten[s] to violate" the first or third item on the list with the stated intent.^[1]

How the three degrees work

The offense has three degrees, which appear in the section as amended by 2018 PA 452, effective March 21, 2019.^[5] The degree depends on whether the animal is a companion animal, whether the person acted with the intent to distress or control a person, and whether the killing, torture, or poisoning was intentional.^[1]

Degree	When it applies	Maximum penalty
First degree	The animal is a companion animal, the person acts with intent to cause a person mental suffering or distress or to exert control over a person, and the person intentionally kills, tortures, mutilates, maims, disfigures, or poisons the animal	Felony: 10 years in prison, $5,000 fine, 500 hours of community service, or a combination[1][2]
Second degree	The animal is a companion animal and the person does or threatens the act with the distress-or-control intent; or the person intentionally kills, tortures, mutilates, maims, disfigures, or poisons any animal	Felony: 7 years, $5,000 fine, 500 hours, or a combination[1][2]
Third degree	Any other violation of the section, such as the reckless act	Felony: 4 years, $5,000 fine, 500 hours, or a combination[9][2]

A companion animal is an animal commonly considered to be, or considered by its owner to be, a pet, or a service animal. Dogs and cats are named as examples, and the list is not exclusive.^[10]

What else can the court order?

The statute gives the sentencing court several tools beyond prison, fine, and community service:

• The prison term may be ordered to run consecutively to a term for any other crime, including one arising out of the same transaction.^[2]
• The court may order restitution, including the costs of investigation and prosecution and of the seizure, care, housing, veterinary care, and disposition of the animal.^[11]
• If probation is ordered, the court may require an evaluation for psychiatric or psychological counseling and counseling at the defendant's own expense.^[2][11]
• The court may order the defendant not to own or possess an animal for any period of time, which may include permanent relinquishment.^[11]

While a case is pending, an animal that was seized by an animal control agency as a victim of the alleged violation must not, with stated exceptions, be returned to an owner or possessor who is the person charged. If that person is convicted, the court must award the animal to the animal control agency for evaluation and disposition.^[12]

The 2019 and 2026 amendments

MCL 750.50b was amended by 2026 PA 88, which took immediate effect on July 27, 2026, and the neglect statute, MCL 750.50, was amended by 2026 PA 87 on the same date.^[4][13] The 2026 act re-enacted the prohibited acts, the three degrees, and the 10-, 7-, and 4-year maximums in the same words as the 2018 act, and its text contains procedures for a seized animal (notice, a security deposit or bond, a hearing, and forfeiture) that are not in the 2018 act's text of the section.^[5] Everything on this page is taken from the text in force as of October 2026. Material written before March 21, 2019 predates the 2018 act.^[5]

Neglect and cruelty by an owner: MCL 750.50

A different statute applies to the person who has charge of an animal. An owner, possessor, or person having the charge or custody of an animal may not fail to provide it with adequate care or cruelly drive, work, or beat it. For one animal, the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, community service of up to 200 hours, or a combination. For two or three animals, or the death of any animal, it is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year. Larger numbers of animals and prior convictions make it a felony.^[13]

How a PPO can protect an animal

A domestic relationship PPO can address animals directly. The court may prohibit the respondent from doing any of the following with the intent to cause the petitioner mental distress or to exert control over the petitioner, with respect to an animal in which the petitioner has an ownership interest:^[3]

• Injuring, killing, torturing, neglecting, or threatening to injure, kill, torture, or neglect the animal.^[3]
• Removing the animal from the petitioner's possession.^[3]
• Retaining or obtaining possession of the animal.^[3]

"Ownership interest" is defined broadly. It exists if the petitioner has a right of property in the animal, keeps or harbors it, has it in his or her care, or permits it to remain on or about premises the petitioner occupies.^[14] Any one of those is enough.^[14]

A respondent age 17 or older who violates a PPO term is subject to arrest and to criminal contempt, punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a fine of up to $500, and that penalty may be imposed in addition to a criminal penalty for the same conduct.^[15][16] For the full list of PPO terms see What a PPO can prohibit; for the filing steps see How to get a PPO and the petition checklist.

Where federal law comes in

Two federal statutes mention animals. The interstate stalking law covers conduct that places a person in reasonable fear of the death of, or serious bodily injury to, that person's pet, service animal, emotional support animal, or horse.^[17] The law against crossing state lines to violate a protection order covers order terms that protect a person's pet, service animal, emotional support animal, or horse, with a penalty of up to 5 years in prison where the offense is committed against the animal.^[18][19] Both are explained in Federal domestic violence crimes.

What the statute does not cover

The prohibition applies only to acts done "without just cause."^[9] The section also says it does not prohibit the lawful killing of livestock or customary farming practices, lawful fishing, regulated hunting, trapping, and pest control, or the work of a veterinarian lawfully practicing veterinary medicine.^[20]

The intent element matters too. The distress-or-control provision requires proof that the person acted or threatened with the intent to cause a person mental suffering or distress or to exert control over a person.^[1] As with any criminal charge, the prosecutor must prove each element beyond a reasonable doubt, and the accused is presumed innocent.^[21]

How this fits with other charges

The same conduct can fall under other statutes. A pattern of threats and unwanted contact may also be charged as stalking, which requires a course of conduct of two or more separate acts.^[22][23] A malicious threat to injure another person's property, made with the intent to compel that person to do or refrain from doing an act against his or her will, is extortion, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison or a fine of up to $10,000.^[24] Those boundaries are covered in Are threats a crime? and Is verbal or emotional abuse a crime?

Practical steps for a person seeking protection: keep veterinary records and photographs, save threatening messages exactly as received, and write down dates. Local agencies that can help with safety planning are listed in Where to get help.