Senate Bill S1496

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

                                  1496

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 2, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced by Sens. DeFRANCISCO, ALESI, GOLDEN, GRIFFO, LARKIN, MAZIARZ,
  MORAHAN,  SAMPSON,  VOLKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Agriculture

AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to  cruelty
  to ten or more animals

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

  Section 1. Section 353 of the agriculture and markets law, as  amended
by  chapter 458 of the laws of 1985, the opening paragraph as amended by
chapter 523 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
  S 353. Overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; failure to provide
proper sustenance. A  person  who  overdrives,  overloads,  tortures  or
cruelly  beats  or  unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates or kills any
animal, whether wild or tame, and whether belonging to himself,  HERSELF
or  to  another, or deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, food or
drink, or neglects or refuses to furnish it such sustenance or drink, or
causes, procures or permits any animal  to  be  overdriven,  overloaded,
tortured, cruelly beaten, or unjustifiably injured, maimed, mutilated or
killed,  or to be deprived of necessary food or drink, or who [wilfully]
WILLFULLY sets on foot, instigates, engages in, or in any  way  furthers
any  act  of  cruelty  to any animal, or any act tending to produce such
cruelty, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor and for  purposes  of  para-
graph (b) of subdivision one of section 160.10 of the criminal procedure
law,  shall  be  treated  as  a  misdemeanor  defined  in the penal law;
PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT ANY PERSON  WHO  ENGAGES  IN  ANY  SUCH  CONDUCT
TOWARD  TEN OR MORE ANIMALS AS PART OF THE SAME CRIMINAL TRANSACTION, IS
GUILTY OF A CLASS E FELONY AS DEFINED IN THE PENAL LAW.
  Nothing [herein contained] IN  THIS  SECTION  shall  be  construed  to
prohibit  or  interfere  with  any  properly conducted scientific tests,
experiments or investigations, involving  the  use  of  living  animals,
performed  or  conducted  in  laboratories  or  institutions,  which are

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD02137-01-9
              

S. 1496                             2

approved for these purposes by the [state] commissioner of  health.  The
[state]  commissioner  of  health  shall prescribe the rules under which
such approvals shall be granted, including therein  standards  regarding
the  care  and  treatment  of  any  such  animals.  Such  rules shall be
published and copies thereof conspicuously posted in each such laborato-
ry or institution. The [state] commissioner of health or his OR HER duly
authorized representative shall have the power to inspect such laborato-
ries or institutions to insure compliance with such rules and standards.
Each such approval may be revoked at any time for failure to comply with
such rules and in any case the approval shall be limited to a period not
exceeding one year.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.