Prohibits the shipment of certain live animals by postal mail into, within, or to points outside of the state of New York and provides for a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars per violation.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4611
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to prohib-
iting the shipment of certain live animals by postal mail
PURPOSE:
This legislation will prohibit the shipment of live animals by mail.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the agriculture and markets law by adding a new
section 382.
Section two establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Following changes to the United States Postal Service (USPS) that
resulted in slower mail delivery, it was reported in August 2020 that
thousands of live chicks were being delivered dead in the northeast.
Live chicks, shipped from hatcheries, were mishandled by the USPS, and
in many cases, left inside warehouses for days before being delivered.
In Maine, farmers reported receiving at least 4,800 dead chicks from
hatcheries.
The United States Postal Service accepts shipments of live chicks and
adult birds as well as "small, harmless, cold-blooded animals" such as
frogs and lizards. Other mail carriers, such as UPS and FedEx, also
accept reptiles and amphibians for. shipment. While precautions are
taken to ensure safe delivery of animals, when delays occur it is always
to the detriment of the animal.
Animals are living beings and should not be transported like cargo.
Several veterinarians have also expressed concern over the shipment of
live animals, particularly birds, by postal mail. Among the issues
presented by veterinarians, they describe the inability to properly
regulate the temperature necessary to keep birds warm. Further, when
chicks are shipped they are typically newly hatched and are then kept
inside a dark box for the first days of their lives, a critical learning
period when they would otherwise already be learning skills from other
birds in the flock. (United Poultry Concerns. " Veterinary Assessment of
Shipping Live Birds as Airmail"
HTTPS://WWW.UOCONLINE.ORE/TRANSPORT/
71408SHIONINGBIRDS.HTML)
This legislation will protect the well-being of animals by prohibiting
the shipment of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians through postal
mail.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4611
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to prohib-
iting the shipment of certain live animals by postal mail
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new
2 section 382 to read as follows:
3 § 382. Prohibition of the shipping of live animals by postal mail. 1.
4 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, partnership or corporation to
5 mail or offer for mailing a live animal by postal mail into or within
6 the state of New York or from the state of New York to points outside
7 the state of New York. As used in this section, "live animal" shall
8 mean any mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian. "Postal mail" shall mean
9 mail that is processed and delivered by the United States postal service
10 or other mail carrier. A person, firm, partnership or corporation shall
11 be considered to have mailed or offered for mailing a live animal in
12 violation of this section when such person, firm, partnership or corpo-
13 ration causes such live animal and applicable postage or shipping fee to
14 be physically placed in the possession of the United States postal
15 service or other mail carrier.
16 2. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty
17 not to exceed one thousand dollars. Each such violation shall be deemed
18 a separate violation with respect to each animal mailed or offered for
19 mailing.
20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02299-01-1
