S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________

                                        998--B

                              2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                                 I N  A S S E M B L Y

                                      (PREFILED)

                                    January 7, 2009
                                      ___________

       Introduced  by M. of A. PAULIN, BENJAMIN, BRADLEY, COLTON, GALEF, MAYER-
         SOHN, ORTIZ, SWEENEY, ROSENTHAL, SPANO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M.  of
         A.  ALFANO, BARRA, BING, CHRISTENSEN, CLARK, CUSICK, DINOWITZ, GABRYS-
         ZAK, GLICK, JOHN, LATIMER, PHEFFER, SCARBOROUGH,  SCHIMMINGER,  WRIGHT
         -- read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture -- committee
         discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
         to  said  committee -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes
         --  again  reported  from  said  committee  with  amendments,  ordered
         reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

       AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to increas-
         ing  the  penalty  for multiple convictions of torturing or failing to
         provide sustenance to a companion animal

         THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

    1    Section  1. Section 353 of the agriculture and markets law, as amended
    2  by chapter 458 of the laws of 1985 and the opening paragraph as  amended
    3  by chapter 523 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
    4    S 353. Overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; failure to provide
    5  proper  sustenance.  1.  A person who overdrives, overloads, tortures or
    6  cruelly beats or unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates  or  kills  any
    7  animal,  whether  wild  or  tame, and whether belonging to himself or to
    8  another, or deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, food or  drink,
    9  or  neglects or refuses to furnish it such sustenance or drink, or caus-
   10  es, procures  or  permits  any  animal  to  be  overdriven,  overloaded,
   11  tortured, cruelly beaten, or unjustifiably injured, maimed, mutilated or
   12  killed,  or  to  be deprived of necessary food or drink, or who wilfully
   13  sets on foot, instigates, engages in, or in any way furthers any act  of
   14  cruelty  to  any  animal, or any act tending to produce such cruelty, is
   15  guilty of a class A misdemeanor and for purposes  of  paragraph  (b)  of

        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD00464-08-9
       A. 998--B                           2

    1  subdivision  one  of section 160.10 of the criminal procedure law, shall
    2  be treated as a misdemeanor defined in the penal law.
    3    2.  WHEN COMMITTED AGAINST A COMPANION ANIMAL, ANY VIOLATION OF SUBDI-
    4  VISION ONE OF THIS SECTION WITHIN FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE  OF  A  PRIOR
    5  CONVICTION OF ANY VIOLATION OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION, SHALL BE
    6  A CLASS E FELONY, PUNISHABLE PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION THREE
    7  HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE-A OF THIS ARTICLE.
    8    3.  Nothing  herein contained shall be construed to prohibit or inter-
    9  fere with any properly conducted scientific tests, experiments or inves-
   10  tigations, involving the use of living animals, performed  or  conducted
   11  in  laboratories  or institutions, which are approved for these purposes
   12  by the state commissioner of health. The state  commissioner  of  health
   13  shall  prescribe  the rules under which such approvals shall be granted,
   14  including therein standards regarding the care and treatment of any such
   15  animals. Such rules shall be published and copies thereof  conspicuously
   16  posted in each such laboratory or institution. The state commissioner of
   17  health  or  his  duly  authorized representative shall have the power to
   18  inspect such laboratories or institutions to insure compliance with such
   19  rules and standards. Each such approval may be revoked at any  time  for
   20  failure  to comply with such rules and in any case the approval shall be
   21  limited to a period not exceeding one year.
   22    S 2. This act shall take effect on the first of December next succeed-
   23  ing the date on which it shall have become a law.