---
type: "Bill"
title: "Animals; provide definition of term \"owner\"; impoundment of animals for any violation; caring for an impounded animal"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 4 of the O.C.G.A., relating to animals, so as to provide a definition of the term \"owner\"; to provide for impoundment of animals for any violation of Article 1 of Chapter 11 of said title; to amend Article 1 of Chapter 10 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to magistrate courts, so as to provide for the foreclosure of liens on animals; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2015_16"
identifier: "SB 356"
citation: "Georgia SB 356 (2015_16)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Cowsert", "Jesse Stone", "Michael Williams", "Renee Unterman"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2016-02-10"
last_action: "2016-04-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/04cfa615-8eb9-4266-baf0-28c535f54a5d"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "f15f2ebc5cffdc1e1c6b16de8fa6c7585372537cd1735065dc249184d746ed6d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia SB 356 (2015_16) — Animals; provide definition of term "owner"; impoundment of animals for any violation; caring for an impounded animal

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 4 of the O.C.G.A., relating to animals, so as to provide a definition of the term "owner"; to provide for impoundment of animals for any violation of Article 1 of Chapter 11 of said title; to amend Article 1 of Chapter 10 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to magistrate courts, so as to provide for the foreclosure of liens on animals; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **As introduced LC 44 0029** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/157099.pdf)
2. **As passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/158408.pdf)
3. **Floor amend 1 AM 44 0003** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/158373.pdf)
4. **SB 356/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/162388.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE AS AMENDED — **50–3** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bill Cowsert — primary (person)
- Jesse Stone — primary (person)
- Michael Williams — primary (person)
- Renee Unterman — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-02-10** Senate Hopper
- **2016-02-11** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2016-02-17** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2016-02-18** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2016-02-23** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2016-02-23** Senate Passed/Adopted As Amended `passage`
- **2016-02-24** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2016-02-25** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2016-03-10** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2016-03-24** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2016-03-24** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2016-03-31** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2016-04-26** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2016-04-26** Act 348 `executive-signature`
- **2016-04-26** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/04cfa615-8eb9-4266-baf0-28c535f54a5d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).