The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1650
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             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:
 
   Section  1. Section 353 of the agriculture and markets law, as amended
 by chapter 458 of the laws of 1985 and the opening paragraph as  amended
 by chapter 523 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
   § 353. Overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; failure to provide
 proper  sustenance.  1.  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 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 caus-
 es, 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
 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  paragraph  (b)  of
 subdivision  one  of section 160.10 of the criminal procedure law, shall
 be treated as a misdemeanor defined in the penal law.
   2. A SECOND VIOLATION OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION  WITHIN  FIVE
 YEARS  FROM  THE DATE OF A PRIOR CONVICTION OF ANY VIOLATION OF SUBDIVI-
 SION ONE OF THIS SECTION, SHALL BE A FELONY. A  DEFENDANT  CONVICTED  OF
 THIS OFFENSE SHALL BE SENTENCED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (B) OF SUBDIVISION
 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

 
 OF IMPRISONMENT IMPOSED FOR A VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE A DEFI-
 NITE SENTENCE, WHICH MAY NOT EXCEED TWO YEARS.
   3.  Nothing  [herein]  IN THIS SECTION contained 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
 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 laboratory or
 institution. The state commissioner of health or his OR HER duly author-
 ized representative shall have the power to inspect such laboratories 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.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of December next succeed-
 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.