STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 39 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 4, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the family court act, the criminal procedure law and the domestic relations law, in relation to an order of protection with respect to companion animals The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 352.3 of the family court act, as 2 amended by chapter 261 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 (1) Upon the issuance of an order pursuant to section 315.3 or the 5 entry of an order of disposition pursuant to section 352.2, a court may 6 enter an order of protection against any respondent for good cause 7 shown. The order may require that the respondent: (a) stay away from the 8 home, school, business or place of employment of the victims of the 9 alleged offense; or (b) refrain from harassing, intimidating, threaten- 10 ing or otherwise interfering with the victim or victims of the alleged 11 offense and such members of the family or household of such victim or 12 victims as shall be specifically named by the court in such order; or 13 (c) refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justifica- 14 tion, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, possessed, 15 leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] petitioner 16 or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's or 17 respondent's household; or (d) refrain from remotely controlling any 18 connected devices affecting the home, vehicle or property of the person 19 protected by the order. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 20 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 21 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 22 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 23 respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00725-01-3
A. 39 2 1 forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harming, or 2 otherwise disposing of the animal. "Companion animal", as used in this 3 subdivision, shall have the same meaning as in subdivision five of 4 section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets law. 5 "Connected device", as used in this subdivision, shall mean any device, 6 or other physical object that is capable of connecting to the internet, 7 directly or indirectly, and that is assigned an internet protocol 8 address or bluetooth address. 9 § 2. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (h) of section 446 of the family court 10 act, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read 11 as follows: 12 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 13 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 14 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 15 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 16 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 17 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 18 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 19 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 20 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 21 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 22 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 23 § 3. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (i) of section 551 of the family court 24 act, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read 25 as follows: 26 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 27 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 28 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 29 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 30 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 31 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 32 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 33 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 34 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 35 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 36 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 37 § 4. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (i) of section 656 of the family court 38 act, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read 39 as follows: 40 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 41 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 42 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner or a minor child 43 residing in the petitioner's or respondent's household. Such order may 44 also grant the petitioner the exclusive care, custody or control of any 45 animal that is owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, 46 the respondent or a minor child residing in the residence or household 47 of the petitioner or the respondent, and order the respondent to stay 48 away from the animal and forbid the respondent from taking, trans- 49 ferring, concealing, harming, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 50 § 5. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (h) of section 759 of the family court 51 act, as amended by chapter 261 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read 52 as follows: 53 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 54 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 55 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 56 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's
A. 39 3 1 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 2 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 3 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 4 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 5 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 6 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 7 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 8 § 6. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (i) of section 842 of the family court 9 act, as amended by chapter 335 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read 10 as follows: 11 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 12 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 13 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner or a minor child 14 residing in the petitioner's or respondent's household. Such order may 15 also grant the petitioner the exclusive care, custody or control of any 16 animal that is owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, 17 the respondent or a minor child residing in the residence or household 18 of the petitioner or the respondent, and order the respondent to stay 19 away from the animal and forbid the respondent from taking, trans- 20 ferring, concealing, harming, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 21 § 7. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 1056 22 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2013, 23 is amended to read as follows: 24 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 25 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 26 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 27 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 28 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 29 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 30 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 31 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 32 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 33 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 34 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 35 § 8. Clause (A) of subparagraph 6 of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of 36 section 530.12 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 526 37 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows: 38 (A) to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 39 fication, any companion animal the defendant knows to be owned, 40 possessed, leased, kept or held by the victim or a minor child residing 41 in the victim's or defendant's household. Such order may also grant the 42 victim the exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is 43 owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by the victim, the defendant or a 44 minor child residing in the residence or household of the victim or the 45 defendant, and order the defendant to stay away from the animal and 46 forbid the defendant from taking, transferring, concealing, harming, or 47 otherwise disposing of the animal. 48 § 9. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 49 530.13 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 261 of the 50 laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows: 51 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 52 fication, any companion animal the defendant knows to be owned, 53 possessed, leased, kept or held by such victim or victims or a minor 54 child residing in such victim's or victims' household. Such order may 55 also grant the victim the exclusive care, custody or control of any 56 animal that is owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by the victim, the
A. 39 4 1 defendant or a minor child residing in the residence or household of the 2 victim or the defendant, and order the defendant to stay away from the 3 animal and forbid the defendant from taking, transferring, concealing, 4 harming, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 5 § 10. Subparagraph 7 of paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 240 of 6 the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 7 2013, is amended to read as follows: 8 (7) to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 9 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 10 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 11 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 12 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 13 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 14 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 15 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 16 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 17 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 18 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. "Companion animal," as used 19 in this section, shall have the same meaning as in subdivision five of 20 section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets law; 21 § 11. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 252 of the domestic 22 relations law, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2013, is amended 23 to read as follows: 24 (g) to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 25 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 26 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 27 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 28 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 29 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 30 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 31 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 32 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 33 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 34 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. "Companion animal," as used 35 in this section, shall have the same meaning as in subdivision five of 36 section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets law; 37 § 12. This act shall take effect immediately.