GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1993 SESSION

CHAPTER 143
HOUSE BILL 1020

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT PLACEMENT OF ANTIFREEZE IN AREAS WHERE IT MAY POISON ANIMALS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 14-401 reads as rewritten:
"§ 14-401. Putting poisonous foodstuffs, antifreeze, etc., in certain public places, prohibited.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to put or place (i) any strychnine, other poisonous compounds or ground glass on any beef or other foodstuffs of any kind, or (ii) any antifreeze that contains ethylene glycol and is not in a closed container, in any public square, street, lane, alley or on any lot in any village, town or city or on any public road, open field, woods or yard in the country. Any person, firm or corporation who violates the provisions of this section shall be liable in damages to the person injured thereby and also shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned, at the discretion of the court. This section shall not apply to the poisoning of insects or worms for the purpose of protecting crops or gardens by spraying plants, crops, or trees, to poisons used in rat extermination, or to the accidental release of antifreeze containing ethylene glycol."
Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 1993, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 9th day of June, 1993.

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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

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Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives