NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4284
SPONSOR: Lemondes TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to exempt-
ing livestock guardian dogs and herding dogs from license fees
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To define livestock guardian dogs and herding dogs and to exempt them
from dog licensing fees
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 would amend Section 108 of the Agriculture and Markets Law to
define the terms "livestock guardian dog" and "herding dog".
Section 2 would amend Subdivision 2 of section 110 of the Agriculture
and Markets Law to exempt livestock guardian dogs and herding dogs from
licensing fees.
Section 3 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Working dogs play a vital role in the agricultural community and provide
an important service to farmers, whether protecting apple orchards from
deer, herding livestock, or protecting livestock from predators. Live-
stock guardian dogs and herding dogs are currently treated the same as
pets when it comes to being charged licensing fees. These working dogs
are not family pets and must go through rigorous and expensive training
to achieve working designations. Although it is not a large fee,
exempting both livestock guardian dogs and herding dogs will lessen the
burden for farmers and allow them to keep working dogs on their proper-
ty.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
09/09/22 referred to agriculture
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
TBD
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4284
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LEMONDES -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Agriculture
AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to exempt-
ing livestock guardian dogs and herding dogs from license fees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 108 of the agriculture and markets law is amended
2 by adding two new subdivisions 30 and 31 to read as follows:
3 30. "Livestock guardian dog" means any dog utilized for the purpose of
4 protecting livestock from predators.
5 31. "Herding dog" means any dog that has been trained in herding and
6 is utilized for the purpose of herding cattle, sheep, or other live-
7 stock.
8 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 110 of the agriculture and markets law,
9 as added by section 5 of part T of chapter 59 of the laws of 2010, is
10 amended to read as follows:
11 2. Municipalities [may] shall exempt from their licensing fees any
12 guide dog, hearing dog, service dog, war dog, working search dog,
13 detection dog, police work dog [or], therapy dog, livestock guardian dog
14 or herding dog. Each copy of any license for such dogs shall be conspic-
15 uously marked "Guide Dog", "Hearing Dog", "Service Dog", "Working Search
16 Dog", "War Dog", "Detection Dog", "Police Work Dog", [or] "Therapy Dog",
17 "Livestock Guardian Dog" or "Herding Dog", as may be appropriate, by the
18 clerk or authorized dog control officer.
19 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01404-01-3
