Section 30-18-3 - Unlawful branding.

30-18-3. Unlawful branding.

Unlawful branding consists of either:   

A.     branding, marking or causing to be branded or marked any animal, which is the property of another, with any brand not the brand of the owner of the animal;   

B.     defacing or obliterating any brand or mark upon any animal which is the property of another; or   

C.     using any brand unless said brand shall have been duly recorded in the office of the cattle sanitary board of New Mexico [New Mexico livestock board] or the sheep sanitary board of New Mexico [New Mexico livestock board], whichever is applicable, and the person holds a certificate from the cattle sanitary board [New Mexico livestock board] or the sheep sanitary board [New Mexico livestock board] certifying to the fact of such record.   

Whoever commits unlawful branding is guilty of a fourth degree felony.