Bill Text: NY A00768 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Includes wildlife animals as those subject to the animal cruelty provisions of the agriculture and markets law.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-2)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to codes [A00768 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A00768-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           768

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 11, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of A. L. ROSENTHAL, BENEDETTO, PAULIN, WEPRIN, OTIS,
          FAHY, SANTABARBARA, ZINERMAN, KELLES, DiPIETRO --  Multi-Sponsored  by
          --  M.  of  A.  COLTON, DINOWITZ, GLICK, HEVESI, LUPARDO, McDONOUGH --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture

        AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation  to  aggra-
          vated cruelty to animals

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 353-a  of  the  agriculture
     2  and  markets  law,  as  added  by  chapter  118 of the laws of 1999, are
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    1. A person is guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals when,  with  no
     5  justifiable  purpose,  he  or  she  intentionally kills or intentionally
     6  causes serious physical injury to a companion  animal  or  wildlife,  as
     7  defined  in  subdivision  six  of  section  11-0103 of the environmental
     8  conservation law, other than insects,  with  aggravated  cruelty.    For
     9  purposes of this section, "aggravated cruelty" shall mean conduct which:
    10  (i)  is  intended  to  cause  extreme  physical pain; or (ii) is done or
    11  carried out in an especially depraved or sadistic manner.
    12    2. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit or
    13  interfere in any way with anyone lawfully engaged in hunting,  trapping,
    14  or fishing, as provided in article eleven of the environmental conserva-
    15  tion  law, activities deemed to be sound agricultural practices pursuant
    16  to section three hundred eight of this chapter, the dispatch of rabid or
    17  diseased animals, as provided in article twenty-one of the public health
    18  law, or the dispatch of animals posing a threat to human safety or other
    19  animals, where such action is otherwise legally authorized, or any prop-
    20  erly conducted scientific tests, experiments, or investigations  involv-
    21  ing the use of living animals, performed or conducted in laboratories or
    22  institutions  approved  for  such purposes by the commissioner of health
    23  pursuant to section three hundred fifty-three of this article.
    24    § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    25  have become a law.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00711-01-3