Cal. FAC § 17551

This is the official text of Cal. FAC § 17551, part of California’s Food and Agricultural Code — regulates farming, food safety, and agricultural commerce.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

It is unlawful for any person with the intent to steal any bovine animal, horse, colt, jack, jenny, or mule which belongs to another person, or prevent its identification by the true owner to do any of the following:

(a) Mark or brand any such animal with any brand or mark except the recorded brand or brand and mark of the owner of the animal.

(b) Alter or deface a brand or mark on such an animal.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.