S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                   129

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 9, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. CUSICK -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Agriculture

AN  ACT  to amend the agriculture and markets law and the administrative
  code of the city of New York, in relation to the inspection of certain
  horse stables in cities of one million or more

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

  Section  1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new
section 359-b to read as follows:
  S 359-B. INSPECTION OF CERTAIN HORSE STABLES IN CITIES OF ONE  MILLION
OR MORE. 1. THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY ONLY TO:
  (A)  HORSE  STABLES  IN  CITIES  HAVING A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR
MORE; AND
  (B) HORSE STABLES FOR RIDING HORSES, THE BOARDING  OF  HORSES  OR  FOR
HORSES  USED  FOR  RIDING  LESSONS  IN CITIES HAVING A POPULATION OF ONE
MILLION OR MORE.
  2. NO PROVISION OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE DEEMED TO APPLY  TO  CARRIAGE
HORSES  OR  ANY  HORSE  THAT IS SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE RACING,
PARI-MUTUEL WAGERING AND BREEDING LAW.
  3. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL, AT A  MINIMUM,  MAKE  YEARLY  INSPECTIONS  OF
HORSE STABLES TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE.
  4.  THE  COMMISSIONER IS AUTHORIZED TO PROMULGATE SUCH RULES AND REGU-
LATIONS AS HE OR SHE DEEMS NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS
SECTION.
  5. VIOLATION OF ANY PROVISION OF THIS SECTION OR  ANY  RULE  OR  REGU-
LATION  PROMULGATED PURSUANT THERETO SHALL BE A CIVIL OFFENSE PUNISHABLE
BY A FINE OF NOT LESS THAN ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS NOR MORE THAN  ONE  THOU-
SAND DOLLARS.
  S  2.  Section  17-330  of  the administrative code of the city of New
York, as added by local law number 2 of the city of  New  York  for  the

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

                                                           LBD00829-01-3

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year  1994, subdivisions b, c, g, l, n and p as amended and subdivisions
q and r as added by local law number 10 of the city of New York for  the
year 2010, is amended to read as follows:
  S  17-330  Regulations.  a.  The  commissioner, with the advice of the
advisory board as hereinafter established AND SUBJECT TO THE  PROVISIONS
OF  SECTION  THREE  HUNDRED  FIFTY-NINE-B OF THE AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS
LAW, shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry out the
provisions of this subchapter and to promote the health, safety and well
being of the horses which are required to be licensed hereunder  and  of
members of the public who hire such horses.
  b.  1.  Horses  shall not be left untethered or unattended except when
confined in a stable or other enclosure. When tethered, all horses shall
be secured by the use of a rope attached to the halter, not to  the  bit
or bridle.
  2.  Horse  bridles and halters shall be used on carriage horses at all
times when operating a carriage.
  c. Standing stalls for carriage horses shall be sixty square  feet  or
larger,  with  a minimum width of seven feet, and shall be configured to
permit a carriage horse to turn around and safely lay  down  within  the
stall.  Horses  shall  be un-tied when stabled. A halter shall be on the
horse or hung outside each stall at all times.
  d. Horses shall be adequately quartered. Stables and stalls  shall  be
clean  and  dry and sufficient bedding of straw, shavings or other suit-
able materials shall be furnished and changed as often as  necessary  to
maintain  them in a clean and dry condition. Adequate heating and venti-
lation shall be maintained in stables as prescribed by the  [commission-
er] STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS.
  e. Owners shall insure that appropriate and sufficient food and drink-
ing water are available for each horse and that while working each horse
is permitted to eat and drink at reasonable intervals.
  f.  Owners  shall  not allow a horse to be worked on a public highway,
path or street during adverse  weather  or  other  dangerous  conditions
which  are  a threat to the health or safety of the horse. A horse being
worked when such conditions develop shall be immediately returned to the
stable by the most direct route.
  g. 1. Carriage horses shall not be at work for more than nine hours in
any continuous twenty-four hour period. Riding horses shall  not  be  at
work  for more than eight hours in any continuous twenty-four hour peri-
od. Rest periods for carriage horses and riding horses shall be of  such
duration  and at such intervals as the commissioner shall prescribe, but
rest periods for carriage horses shall in no  event  be  for  less  than
fifteen minutes after each two hour working period, and the time of such
rest  period  shall  be  included in calculating the number of hours the
horse has worked in any twenty-four hour period. During such rest  peri-
ods, the person in charge of such carriage horses shall make fresh water
available to the horse.
  2.  Carriage  horses shall receive no less than five weeks of vacation
or furlough every twelve months at a horse stable facility which  allows
daily  access  to  paddock or pasture turnout. Proof of such vacation or
furlough shall be provided upon request to  the  department  and/or  the
ASPCA.
  h.  Carriage  horses shall not be driven at a pace faster than a trot.
Riding horses may be ridden at a canter but shall not be galloped.
  i. Horses shall be suitably trimmed or  shod,  and  saddles,  bridles,
bits,  road harnesses and any other equipment used on or with a horse at

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work shall be maintained and properly fitted as prescribed by regulation
of the commissioner.
  j.  Stables  in  which horses used in a rental horse business are kept
shall be open for inspection by authorized officers,  veterinarians  and
employees  of  the  STATE department OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS, and any
persons designated by the STATE commissioner OF AGRICULTURE AND  MARKETS
to  enforce  the provisions of this subchapter AND THE STATE AGRICULTURE
AND MARKETS LAW, agents of the ASPCA, police officers, and employees  of
the department of consumer affairs.
  k. An owner shall be jointly liable with the person to whom a horse is
rented  for  any  violation  of  this  subchapter  or of any regulations
promulgated hereunder committed by such person if the  owner  had  know-
ledge  or notice of the act which gave rise to the violation at the time
of or prior to its occurrence or under the circumstances should have had
knowledge or notice of such act and did not attempt to prevent  it  from
occurring.
  l.  An owner of a rental horse business shall keep such records as the
commissioner of health shall prescribe including but not  limited  to  a
consecutive daily record of the movements of each licensed horse includ-
ing  the driver's name and identification number, if applicable, rider's
name, the horse's identification number, vehicle license  plate  number,
if  applicable,  time of leaving stable and time of return to stable. An
owner of a rental horse business shall also keep written  protocols  for
emergencies, including but not limited to primary and secondary emergen-
cy contact information for each horse owner and insurance company infor-
mation, if applicable. Such records shall be kept on the premises of the
stable  where the horses are kept and shall be available for inspection.
The commissioner may, in his or her discretion, require  a  time  clock,
date  stamp  or time stamp where such commissioner believes it is appro-
priate.
  m. A horse required to be licensed pursuant to this  subchapter  which
is  lame  or  suffers  from  a  physical  condition or illness making it
unsuitable for work may be ordered  to  be  removed  from  work  by  the
commissioner  or  his  or  her designee or by an agent of the ASPCA or a
veterinarian employed or retained  by  such  commissioner  or  ASPCA  to
inspect licensed horses. A horse for which such an order has been issued
shall  not be returned to work until it has recovered from the condition
which caused the issuance of the  order  or  until  such  condition  has
improved  sufficiently  that  its  return to work will not aggravate the
condition or otherwise endanger the health of the horse. In any proceed-
ing, under this section it shall be presumed that a horse which is found
at work within forty-eight hours after  the  issuance  of  an  order  of
removal  and  which  is disabled by the same condition which caused such
order to be issued has been  returned  to  work  in  violation  of  this
section. Such presumption may be rebutted by offering a certificate of a
veterinarian indicating suitability to return to work prior to the expi-
ration of the forty-eight hour period.
  n.  Every horse required to be licensed hereunder shall be examined by
a veterinarian prior to its use in a rental horse business, at  time  of
each  license renewal, and thereafter at intervals of not less than four
months and not greater than eight months. The examination shall  include
the general physical condition of the horse, its teeth, hoofs and shoes,
its  stamina and physical ability to perform the work or duties required
of it, and whether it is current on vaccinations,  including  those  for
rabies, Eastern/Western equine encephalitis, West Nile virus, Rhinopneu-
monitis  virus,  and tetanus, or any other vaccinations the Commissioner

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may require by rule. The examination shall also include a record of  any
injury, disease, or deficiency observed by the veterinarian at the time,
together  with  any  prescription or humane correction or disposition of
the  same.  A  signed  health  certificate by the examining veterinarian
shall be maintained at the  stable  premises  at  which  such  horse  is
located  and shall be displayed on the outside of the such horse's indi-
vidual stall. An original of said certificate shall  be  mailed  by  the
examining veterinarian to the department.
  o. 1. Carriage horses shall not be worked whenever the air temperature
is 18 degrees fahrenheit or below.
  2. Carriage horses shall not be worked whenever the air temperature is
90 degrees fahrenheit or above.
  3. For purposes of this subdivision, temperatures shall be those meas-
ured by a state-of-the-art thermometer, as determined by the commission-
er,  as  measured  by  the commissioner or his or her designee at street
level at one of the stands designated pursuant to section 19-174 of  the
code.
  4.  If  the  temperature  exceeds  the  limits set by this subdivision
during the course of a particular ride, at the ride's conclusion, but no
later than one-half hour after the temperature exceeds these limits, the
operator must immediately cease working, move the horse to  an  area  of
shelter,  where  available,  rest the horse and then walk it directly to
its stable. All horses so returned to their stable must be unbridled and
unharnessed and remain at the stable for at least one hour,  and  there-
after,  until such time as the weather conditions shall once again reach
acceptable limits.
  5. No violation of this subdivision shall occur unless a written warn-
ing of violation is first issued by the authorized enforcement personnel
to the operator advising that the air temperature limits of this  subdi-
vision  have been exceeded and directing that the operator cease working
a carriage horse in accordance with the provisions of this  subdivision.
A  violation  of  this subdivision may be issued if an operator fails to
comply with the direction contained in the written warning of violation.
Failure to comply with such direction shall not be construed as a  sepa-
rate violation.
  p.  Every  carriage  horse  required to be licensed hereunder shall be
equipped with a manure catching device. Such devices shall be affixed or
attached to the carriage and shall at no time be affixed or attached  to
the horse.
  q.  Carriage  horses  shall not be younger than five years at the time
placed into service in  any  rental  horse  business  and  licensed.  No
carriage horse older than 26 years of age shall be licensed to work in a
rental  horse  business.  Acceptable proof of age shall include a signed
letter from a licensed veterinarian stating the horse's age,  a  certif-
icate  from an officially recognized national registry of horses stating
the horse's age, or another industry approved method of certifying age.
  r. Owners shall insure that during  the  months  of  November  through
April every carriage is equipped with a heavy winter horse blanket large
enough  to cover the horse from crest of neck to top of rump. Such blan-
kets shall be used to cover carriage horses in cold weather.  Waterproof
horse blankets of a lighter material shall be provided at all  times  to
cover  the horse from withers to tail during periods of wet weather when
the air temperature is 55 degrees or below.
  S 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.