Bill Text: NY A01650 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Increases the penalty for multiple convictions of torturing, killing or failing to provide sustenance to an animal to a felony, if convicted within five years from the date of a prior conviction.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-2)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to agriculture [A01650 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A01650-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1650

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 17, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. PAULIN, L. ROSENTHAL, GUNTHER, COLTON, NORRIS --
          Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. DINOWITZ, GLICK,  RA,  THIELE  --  read
          once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture

        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 an 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    § 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
    16  subdivision  one  of section 160.10 of the criminal procedure law, shall
    17  be treated as a misdemeanor defined in the penal law.
    18    2. A second violation of subdivision one of this section  within  five
    19  years  from  the date of a prior conviction of any violation of subdivi-
    20  sion one of this section, shall be a felony. A  defendant  convicted  of
    21  this offense shall be sentenced pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision
    22  one  of  section 55.10 of the penal law provided, however, that any term

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04292-01-3
        A. 1650                             2

     1  of imprisonment imposed for a violation of this section shall be a defi-
     2  nite sentence, which may not exceed two years.
     3    3.  Nothing  [herein]  in this section contained shall be construed to
     4  prohibit or interfere with  any  properly  conducted  scientific  tests,
     5  experiments  or  investigations,  involving  the  use of living animals,
     6  performed or  conducted  in  laboratories  or  institutions,  which  are
     7  approved  for  these  purposes  by the state commissioner of health. The
     8  state commissioner of health shall prescribe the rules under which  such
     9  approvals  shall  be  granted, including therein standards regarding the
    10  care and treatment of any such animals. Such rules  shall  be  published
    11  and  copies  thereof  conspicuously  posted  in  each such laboratory or
    12  institution. The state commissioner of health or his or her duly author-
    13  ized representative shall have the power to inspect such laboratories or
    14  institutions to insure compliance with such rules  and  standards.  Each
    15  such approval may be revoked at any time for failure to comply with such
    16  rules  and  in  any  case  the approval shall be limited to a period not
    17  exceeding one year.
    18    § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of December next succeed-
    19  ing the date on which it shall have become a law.