Relates to wild and exotic animal protection; prohibits release of such animals; requires owners of exotic animals to pay for costs associated with animal recapture.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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7078--B
Cal. No. 1046
IN SENATE
April 27, 2012
___________
Introduced by Sens. GRISANTI, AVELLA, OPPENHEIMER, ROBACH, SERRANO --
read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
the Committee on Environmental Conservation -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first
and second report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered
reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to wild
and exotic animal protection
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 8 and 9 of section 11-0512 of the environ-
2 mental conservation law, as amended by chapter 10 of the laws of 2005,
3 are amended to read as follows:
4 1. [No person shall] It shall be prohibited for any person to:
5 a. knowingly possess, harbor, sell, barter, transfer, exchange or
6 import any wild animal for use as a pet in New York state, except as
7 provided in subdivision three of this section[.]; or
8 b. intentionally release or set at-large any wild animal, authorized
9 by this section for use as a pet, from the location where the animal is
10 permitted to be possessed or harbored.
11 8. The department, any police or peace officer of this state, a local
12 animal control officer, or a duly incorporated society for the
13 prevention of cruelty to animals is hereby authorized to enforce the
14 provisions of this section and issue notices of violation to persons in
15 violation of this section, and shall have the authority to seize any
16 wild animal held in violation of this section. A county society for the
17 prevention of cruelty to animals must obtain a warrant before seizing a
18 wild animal or arresting a person who owns or possesses a wild animal
19 under this section. Wild animals seized or surrendered pursuant to the
20 provisions of this section shall be transferred to a duly incorporated
21 wildlife sanctuary as defined in this section, or a zoological facility,
22 or shall be humanely euthanized. Any costs associated with seizing,
23 transferring, recapturing or euthanizing a wild animal shall be borne by
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14078-10-2
S. 7078--B 2
1 the person who owned, harbored or possessed the animal. The department
2 shall also have the authority to seek injunctive relief in any court of
3 appropriate jurisdiction to prevent continued violations of this
4 section.
5 9. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person who knowing-
6 ly breeds a wild animal or knowingly possesses, owns, harbors, sells,
7 barters, transfers, exchanges, or imports a wild animal for use as a pet
8 or intentionally releases or sets at-large any wild animal, authorized
9 by this section for use as a pet, from the location where the animal is
10 permitted to be possessed or harbored in violation of the provisions of
11 this section shall be subject to a penalty of not more than five hundred
12 dollars for the first offense and not more than one thousand dollars for
13 a second and subsequent offenses. Each instance of breeding, owning,
14 harboring, sale, barter, release, transfer, exchange, or import of a
15 wild animal in violation of this section shall constitute a separate
16 offense.
17 § 2. Paragraphs b and c of subdivision 3 of section 11-0512 of the
18 environmental conservation law, as amended by chapter 10 of the laws of
19 2005, are amended and a new paragraph d is added to read as follows:
20 b. Applies to the department within six months of the effective date
21 of this section, and obtains from the department, a license pursuant to
22 subdivision four of this section; [and]
23 c. Complies with all applicable federal, state, or local laws, includ-
24 ing any ordinance, rule or regulation adopted by a local board of
25 health, or any rules and regulations established by the department as
26 requisites for ownership of such wild animal[.]; and
27 d. Reports a release to the local police department and animal
28 control immediately upon discovery of the release. Each escape during a
29 twelve month period of time will subject the possessor to penalties by
30 the department pursuant to subdivisions eight and nine of this section.
31 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
32 have become a law.
