NY State Senate Bill S761

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Agriculture Committee

Introduced
In Committee
On Floor Calendar
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
Delivered to Governor
Signed/Vetoed by Governor

Your Voice

Please enter your contact information

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

A valid email address is required.

Home address search or enter your address manually *

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Leave this field blank

Actions

view actions (1)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2023	referred to agriculture

Co-Sponsors

S761 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A776
Current Committee:: Senate Agriculture
Law Section:: Agriculture and Markets Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §353-a, Ag & Mkts L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2015-2016: S4265, A6252
2017-2018: S4163, A3844
2019-2020: S2723, A757
2021-2022: S960, A2152

S761 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to aggravated cruelty to animals.

S761 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S761

SPONSOR: KRUEGER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to aggra-
vated cruelty to animals

 
PURPOSE:

Removes the term "serious" from the "serious physical injury" language
of Section 353-a of the agriculture and markets law.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Subdivision one of Section 353-a of the agriculture and markets law
would be amended, with the term "serious" in line 3 of subdivision one
struck, to read only as "...intentionally causes (serious) physical
injury to a companion animal...".

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In June 2014 on Staten Island, Rocky, an English bulldog, was the victim
of a terrible act of cruelty when a neighbor threw ammonia in his face
in an attempt to quiet his barking. By the time they brought Rocky to
the vet, he had ulcers in both his eyes and the vet wasn't sure if he
would ever see again. Thankfully, Rocky was able to make a full recov-
ery. Yet this recovery also gave the perpetrator a way out. Due to the
language of the felony animal cruelty statute, a charge could not be
sustained. The dog's recovery conflicted with the prosecutor's interpre-
tation of "serious physical injury". This meant that because the dog
survived and recovered 100's, the perpetrator would be facing a lesser
penalty. This is nothing new. The Times Union reports that only 17% of
those charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals end up in felony
convictions (in New York State). In this case, the perpetrator was given
conditional discharge after being convicted of misdemeanor animal cruel-
ty charges, and forced to pay $1,000 to the ASPCA for the dog's medical
treatment. Also, the perpetrator may not go near Rocky, and may never be
allowed to own a dog again. It is evident the punishment does not fit
the crime. Eliminating the word "serious" from the statute would fix
this, so if a person's actions were intended to cause extreme physical
pain or conducted in an especially depraved or sadistic manner (language
from section 353-a of the Agriculture and Markets law), one would only
have to prove that the animal was killed or injured.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-2022: S.960 Passed Senate/A.2152 Rosenthal - Agriculture

2019-2020: S.2723 Died on Third Reading/A.757 Rosenthal - Agriculture

2017-2018: S4163 Agriculture /A.3844 Rosenthal - Agriculture

2015-2016: S.4265 Passed Senate /A.6252 Rosenthal - Agriculture

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

S761 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    761
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 6, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. KRUEGER, ADDABBO, HOYLMAN, SERRANO, STAVISKY, TEDIS-
   CO -- 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 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.  Subdivision  1  of  section  353-a of the agriculture and
 markets law, as added by chapter 118 of the laws of 1999, is 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 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. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00936-01-3

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

The New York State Senate

senate Bill S761

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Agriculture Committee

Your Voice

Actions

Co-Sponsors

S761 (ACTIVE) - Details

S761 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S761 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S761 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S761

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Liz Krueger

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Agriculture Committee

Your Voice

Actions

Co-Sponsors

Joseph P. Addabbo Jr

Brad Hoylman-Sigal

José M. Serrano

Toby Ann Stavisky

James Tedisco

S761 (ACTIVE) - Details

S761 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S761 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S761 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments