Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes

18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5104.3 (2026)

Harming a police animal while evading arrest or detention.

✓ current as of May 2026

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§ 5104.3. Harming a police animal while evading arrest or detention.

(a) Offense defined.--A person commits an offense if, while engaging in an act prohibited under section 5104 (relating to resisting arrest or other law enforcement), 5104.1 (relating to disarming law enforcement officer) or 5104.2 (relating to evading arrest or detention on foot) or 75 Pa.C.S. § 3733 (relating to fleeing or attempting to elude police officer), the person harms a police animal as defined in section 5531 (relating to definitions).

(b) Grading.--An offense under this section is:

(1) A felony of the third degree if the police animal suffers death or serious bodily injury.

(2) A misdemeanor of the second degree if the police animal suffers bodily injury.

(c) Restitution.--In a case in which a defendant is convicted of a violation under subsection (a), the defendant shall be ordered to make restitution to the agency or individual owning the animal for veterinary bills, for replacement costs of the animal if it is disabled or killed and for the salary of the animal's handler for the period of time the handler's services are lost to the agency.

(July 18, 2022, P.L.1620, No.95, eff. 60 days)

2022 Amendment. Act 95 added section 5104.3.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 2 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2015–2023 · leading case: Shields v. Wiegand (E.D. Pa. 2023).

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Shields v. Wiegand (E.D. Pa. 2023). “Again, one of the crimes Shields pled guilty to was resisting arrest in violation of 18 Pa. C.S. § 5104.3 Under Section 5104, “a lawful arrest is an element of resisting arrest, [so] a conviction for that crime cannot be sustained where that arrest is found to be unlawful.”

Com. v. Kortman, R. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015). “” 18 Pa.C.S. § 5104.3 Running away, arguing with, _______________________ (Footnote Continued) his badge, this was not a mere encounter nor were the police assisting Appellant.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.