NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7303
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to adding animal fighting to
the definition of "criminal activity" for purposes of enterprise
corruption crimes
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill will include animal fighting as a designated criminal act
under the Penal Law's Article 460 Enterprise Corruption statute and
thereby provide sentencing enhancements for certain animal fighting
offenses.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 460.10 of
the penal law to include any felony committed pursuant to section three
hundred fifty-one of the agriculture and markets law relating to animal
fighting within the Enterprise Corruption statute's definition of "crim-
inal act" to effectuate the purposes of this legislation.
Section two establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Though all levels of government continue efforts to prevent and prose-
cute animal fighting, blood sports still thrive in every part of New
York State. The act is not only a horrific experience for animals forced
to fight to a violent death, but it often increases the number of drugs
and illegal weapons available on the street through illicit trafficking
enterprises taking place concurrently on site.
The most recent example (Long Island, 2021) revealed a highly sophisti-
cated, diversified network of organized dog fighters who ranged widely
in age, ethnicity and geographic location who were arrested as a result
of their key roles in the largest dogfighting ring in Suffolk County
history. This interstate operation extended from Long Island to New York
City, Connecticut and Massachusetts, with detectives infiltrating the
ring to bring it down from the inside.
Here, the public was reminded once again of the criminal underground
world of breeding, training, transporting, and fighting dogs for amuse-
ment or gain, and the significant money that surrounds this blood sport,
from the value of grand champion and champion dogs and their descend-
ants, to the substantial amounts of prize money and sports betting that
occurs in connection with dog fighting. A Special Grand Jury heard
evidence of how these perpetrators use online forums that cross state
lines to advertise animal breeding and training for organized dog fight-
ing, as well as solicit matches and engage in sports betting.
The current Agriculture and Markets Law statute that criminalizes animal
fighting provides limited penalties for many who have been part of this
clandestine network of organized dog fighters for decades. For those
offenders who have been charged with Agriculture and Markets Law
offenses, they often resolve the criminal case by paying monetary fines,
which is considered by many as simply the price of doing business.
In 2017, the NYS Legislature amended § 700.05 of the Criminal Procedure
Law to recognize animal fighting as a designated offense eligible for
court-ordered eavesdropping. This amendment recognizes the seriousness
and potential complexity of the crime, thereby permitting such conduct
to be intercepted over wiretaps. Based on the serious threat posed to
the safety of animals and the community by organized animal fighting
rings - and the complex structure and substantial revenue earned by
these illegal operations - the Special Grand Jury in the above case
recommended that organized criminal schemes relating to organized animal
fighting be subject to punishment commensurate with.the severity of the
criminal conduct. However, at present in the Penal Law, and as charged
in the indictments, participation in an organized scheme to engage in
animal fighting only constitutes a class A misdemeanor, chargeable under
Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, pursuant to PL § 105.05(1).
Therefore, in light of the serious nature of the organized criminal
activity involved in animal fighting networks, this bill would authorize
animal fighting rings to be chargeable under Article 460 of the Penal
Law, specifically amending Section 460.10 - which defines "criminal
acts" that may be the basis for an enterprise corruption prosecution -
to include the felony violations prohibiting of animal fighting under
AGM § 351(2).
Criminal acts listed in the Enterprise Corruption statute already
include such crimes as murder, assault, weapon and narcotics possession,
larceny, gambling, forgery and possession of false instruments. The
addition of felony prohibition of animal fighting to the definition of
"criminal act" in PL § 460.10 would allow for offenders to be charged
with Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony offense carrying substan-
tial potential punishment, if they are active participants in a criminal
enterprise that is formed in part to facilitate and profit from animal
fighting. These potential punishments are appropriate and justifiable
based on the brutal nature of such animal cruelty offenses, and the need
for a deterrent effect in combating the extremely profitable, yet harm-
ful and dangerous, enterprise of operating an animal fighting business.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7303
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to adding animal fighting to
the definition of "criminal activity" for purposes of enterprise
corruption crimes
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 460.10 of the
2 penal law, as amended by chapter 442 of the laws of 2006, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 (b) Any felony set forth elsewhere in the laws of this state and
5 defined by the tax law relating to alcoholic beverage, cigarette, gaso-
6 line and similar motor fuel taxes; article seventy-one of the environ-
7 mental conservation law relating to water pollution, hazardous waste or
8 substances hazardous or acutely hazardous to public health or safety of
9 the environment; article twenty-three-A of the general business law
10 relating to prohibited acts concerning stocks, bonds and other securi-
11 ties, article twenty-two of the general business law concerning monopo-
12 lies, section three hundred fifty-one of the agriculture and markets law
13 relating to animal fighting.
14 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
15 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11274-01-3
