S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  768--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 11, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. L. ROSENTHAL, BENEDETTO, PAULIN, WEPRIN, OTIS,
   FAHY, SANTABARBARA, ZINERMAN, KELLES, DiPIETRO --  Multi-Sponsored  by
   --  M.  of  A.  COLTON, DINOWITZ, GLICK, HEVESI, LUPARDO, McDONOUGH --
   read once and referred to the Committee on  Agriculture  --  committee
   discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
   to said committee
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to aggra-
   vated cruelty to animals
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivisions  1 and 2 of section 353-a of the agriculture
 and markets law, as added by chapter  118  of  the  laws  of  1999,  are
 amended to read as follows:
   1.  A  person is guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals when, with no
 justifiable purpose, he or  she  intentionally  kills  or  intentionally
 causes  serious  physical  injury  to a companion animal OR WILDLIFE, AS
 DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION SIX  OF  SECTION  11-0103  OF  THE  ENVIRONMENTAL
 CONSERVATION  LAW,  OTHER  THAN  INSECTS, with aggravated cruelty.   For
 purposes of this section, "aggravated cruelty" shall mean conduct which:
 (i) is intended to cause extreme physical  pain;  or  (ii)  is  done  or
 carried out in an especially depraved or sadistic manner.
   2. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit or
 interfere  in any way with anyone lawfully engaged in hunting, trapping,
 [or] fishing, OR TAKING as provided in article eleven  of  the  environ-
 mental  conservation  law,  ACTIVITIES  DEEMED  TO BE SOUND AGRICULTURAL
 PRACTICES PURSUANT TO SECTION THREE HUNDRED EIGHT OF  THIS  CHAPTER,  OR
 REASONABLE  ACTIVITIES  FOR  THE  PURPOSE  OF  MANAGING PESTS THAT IS IN
 ACCORDANCE WITH FEDERAL, STATE, AND  LOCAL  LAWS  AND  REGULATIONS,  the
 dispatch of rabid or diseased animals, as provided in article twenty-one
 of  the public health law, or the dispatch of animals posing a threat to
 human safety or other animals, where such action  is  otherwise  legally
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00711-02-3
              

 A. 768--A                           2
 
 authorized,  or any properly conducted scientific tests, experiments, or
 investigations  involving  the  use  of  living  animals,  performed  or
 conducted  in laboratories or institutions approved for such purposes by
 the commissioner of health pursuant to section three hundred fifty-three
 of this article.
   §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.