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AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS LAW
§ 353-a. AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS - AS A FELONY
Effective 11/01/99
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. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to
prohibit or interfere in any way with anyone lawfully
engaged in hunting, trapping, or fishing, as provided in
article eleven of the environmental conservation law, 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 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.
3. Aggravated cruelty to animals is a felony. A defendant
convicted of this offense shall be sentenced pursuant to
paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 55.10 of the
penal law provided, however, that any term of imprisonment
imposed for violation of this section shall be a definite
sentence, which may not exceed two years. |
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