Requires duly incorporated humane society, pound or shelter to make reasonable efforts to locate the owner of certain animals or provide for the fostering or adoption of such animals; provides that such efforts shall include, but not be limited to, checking such animals for identification, social media, placing a photograph and general description, and other identifying information on the internet.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5170
SPONSOR: Tannousis TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to requir-
ing reasonable efforts be made in determining the owners of certain
animals
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL::
To provide that before a pound or shelter possessing a dog allows such a
dog to be humanely euthanized, the pound or shelter must either attempt
to find the dog's owner or individuals willing to adopt the dog.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section one of this bill amends Agriculture and Markets Law section
117(7-a) to provide that any animal in the custody of a pound or shelter
must, after the applicable owner redemption period, make the dog avail-
able for adoption in accordance with the provisions of Agriculture and
Markets Law section 374.
Section two of this bill amends subdivision 2 of Agriculture and Markets
Law section 374 ,to change the time requirement to hold an animal before
the animal is available for adoption "(the redemption period) from a
permissive 5 day period to the longer of a 5 day period or the redemp-
tion period prescribed by Agriculture and Markets Law section 117. The
adoption period is a reasonably practicable period that is at least 90
days. During the adoption period, the pound or shelter in possession of
the animal is required to make a reasonable effort to find the animal's
owner or to find adoptive owners for the animal. The reasonable efforts
shall include placing a photograph and description of the animal on the
Internet. A reasonably practicable period is determined based upon the
shelter or pound's size, the number of animals housed in the shelter or
pound, and the animal's overall health.
Section three of this bill provides that this act shall take effect on
the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however,
that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
effective date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on
or before such effective date.
JUSTIFICATION::
The shelters, associations for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and
pounds in this State are the temporary home for many animals. Under our
current law, many of these animals can be humanely euthanized. This
bill would require an entity in possession of an animal to either try to
find the animal's owner or to find adoptive parents for the animal
before humanely euthanizing the animal. These animals are not in their
predicament due to anything that they did. We should not allow them to
be euthanized without first using our best efforts to try and place them
in an adoptive home.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
2021 A7146 Referred to Agriculture.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS::
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE::
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the addi-
tion, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for
the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and
directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5170
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 3, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. TANNOUSIS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to requir-
ing reasonable efforts be made in determining the owners of certain
animals
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 7-a of section 117 of the agriculture and
2 markets law, as amended by chapter 83 of the laws of 2011, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 7-a. Any animal in the custody of a pound or shelter shall, after the
5 expiration of the appropriate redemption period prescribed by subdivi-
6 sions six, eight and nine of this section and subject to the provisions
7 of section three hundred seventy-four of this chapter, be made available
8 for adoption pursuant to the provisions of subdivision two of section
9 three hundred seventy-four of this chapter or euthanized subject to
10 [subdivisions six, eight and nine of this section and subject to] the
11 provisions of section three hundred seventy-four of this chapter [after
12 the time for redemption has expired]; provided, however, that such
13 release may be made to another such pound, duly incorporated society for
14 the prevention of cruelty to animals, duly incorporated humane society
15 or duly incorporated animal protective association for the sole purpose
16 of placing such animal in an adoptive home, when such action is reason-
17 ably believed to improve the opportunity for adoption.
18 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 374 of the agriculture and markets law,
19 as amended by chapter 421 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as
20 follows:
21 2. In the absence of such findings or certification, a duly incorpo-
22 rated humane society, a duly incorporated society for the prevention of
23 cruelty to animals, or any pound maintained by or under contract or
24 agreement with any county, city, town or village [may after five days]
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05212-01-3
A. 5170 2
1 shall, after the expiration of five days or the applicable redemption
2 period prescribed by subdivisions six, eight and nine of section one
3 hundred seventeen of this chapter, whichever is longer, make available
4 for adoption after a reasonably practicable period which is not less
5 than ninety days or have humanely destroyed in accordance with the
6 provisions of this section [and subject to subdivisions six, eight and
7 nine of section one hundred seventeen of this chapter], any animal of
8 which possession is taken as provided for in the preceding section,
9 unless the same is earlier redeemed by its owner; provided, however,
10 that such duly incorporated society, pound or shelter shall make a
11 reasonable effort to locate the owner of such animal or to provide for
12 the fostering or adoption of such animal. Such reasonable efforts shall
13 include, but not be limited to, checking the animal for all forms of
14 identification, social media, and placing a photograph and general
15 description of such animal, the breed or breeds and any other identify-
16 ing information on the internet. For purposes of this subdivision, when
17 determining a reasonably practicable period, consideration shall be
18 given to the number of other animals at the shelter, the shelter's
19 capacity for housing and caring for animals, the length of time that
20 the animal has been in the shelter, and the animal's health. Notwith-
21 standing the redemption periods set forth above in this subdivision, any
22 municipality may establish the duration of such periods by local law or
23 ordinance for any cat whose owner cannot be identified by a collar, tag,
24 microchip, tattoo or other identifying mark, provided that no such peri-
25 od shall be less than three days, and provided further that such cat be
26 made available solely for the purposes of adoption and released to an
27 adoptive owner following an examination by a duly-licensed veterinarian,
28 the details of which shall be provided to the adoptive owner.
29 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
30 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
31 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
32 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
33 on or before such effective date.
