STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2143 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 15, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Aging AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to requir- ing duly incorporated humane societies, a duly incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, pet dealers or any pound maintained by or under contract or agreement with any county, city, town or village microchip stray dogs or cats before being adopted 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 377-b to read as follows: 3 § 377-b. Microchipping of dogs and cats. 1. A duly incorporated humane 4 society, a duly incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to 5 animals, or any pound maintained by or under contract or agreement with 6 any county, city, town or village shall microchip any dog or cat found 7 abandoned and not properly cared for, or any lost, strayed, homeless or 8 unwanted dog or cat if no such microchip is found prior to releasing 9 such dog or cat for adoption or returning such dog or cat to the dog or 10 cat's owner. 11 2. A duly incorporated humane society, a duly incorporated society for 12 the prevention of cruelty to animals, or any pound maintained by or 13 under contract or agreement with any county, city, town or village shall 14 provide both written and verbal instructions on how to register or amend 15 microchip information for animals. 16 3. Prior to releasing such dog or cat into the custody of such new 17 owner, a duly incorporated humane society, a duly incorporated society 18 for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or any pound maintained by or 19 under contract or agreement with any county, city, town or village shall 20 confirm that such new owner has registered or amended such contact 21 information with such microchip company. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02504-02-5
A. 2143 2 1 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 374 of the agriculture and markets law, 2 as amended by chapter 421 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 2. In the absence of such findings or certification, a duly incorpo- 5 rated humane society, a duly incorporated society for the prevention of 6 cruelty to animals, or any pound maintained by or under contract or 7 agreement with any county, city, town or village may after five days 8 make available for adoption, subject to the provisions of section three 9 hundred seventy-seven-b of this article or have humanely destroyed in 10 accordance with the provisions of this section and subject to subdivi- 11 sions six, eight and nine of section one hundred seventeen of this chap- 12 ter, any animal of which possession is taken as provided for in the 13 preceding section, unless the same is earlier redeemed by its owner. 14 Notwithstanding the redemption periods set forth above in this subdivi- 15 sion, any municipality may establish the duration of such periods by 16 local law or ordinance for any cat whose owner cannot be identified by a 17 collar, tag, microchip, tattoo or other identifying mark, provided that 18 no such period shall be less than three days, and provided further that 19 such cat be made available solely for the purposes of adoption, subject 20 to the provisions of section three hundred seventy-seven-b of this arti- 21 cle and [released to an adoptive owner] following an examination by a 22 duly-licensed veterinarian, the details of which shall be provided to 23 the adoptive owner. 24 § 3. Subparagraphs 2 and 3 of paragraph b of subdivision 6 of section 25 373 of the agriculture and markets law, subparagraph 2 as amended by 26 section 24 of part T of chapter 59 of the laws of 2010, and subparagraph 27 3 as added by chapter 256 of the laws of 1997, are amended to read as 28 follows: 29 (2) If the court orders the posting of a security, the security shall 30 be posted with the clerk of the court within five business days of the 31 hearing provided for in subparagraph one of this paragraph. The court 32 may order the immediate forfeiture of the seized animal to the impound- 33 ing organization if the person ordered to post the security fails to do 34 so. Any animal forfeited shall be made available for adoption, subject 35 to the provisions of section three hundred seventy-seven-b of this arti- 36 cle, or euthanized subject to subdivision seven-a of section one hundred 37 seventeen of this chapter or section three hundred seventy-four of this 38 article. 39 (3) In the case of an animal other than a companion animal or pet, if 40 a person ordered to post security fails to do so, the court may, in 41 addition to the forfeiture to a duly incorporated society for the 42 prevention of cruelty to animals, humane society, pound, animal shelter 43 or any authorized agents thereof, and subject to the restrictions of 44 sections three hundred fifty-four, three hundred fifty-seven and three 45 hundred seventy-four of this article, order the animal which was the 46 basis of the order to be sold, provided that all interested persons 47 shall first be provided the opportunity to redeem their interest in the 48 animal and to purchase the interest of the person ordered to post secu- 49 rity, subject to such conditions as the court deems appropriate to 50 assure proper care and treatment of the animal. The court may reimburse 51 the person ordered to post security and any interested persons any money 52 earned by the sale of the animal less any costs including, but not 53 limited to, veterinary and custodial care. Any animal determined by the 54 court to be maimed, diseased, disabled or infirm so as to be unfit for 55 sale or any useful purpose shall be forfeited to a duly incorporated 56 society for the prevention of cruelty to animals or a duly incorporated
A. 2143 3 1 humane society or authorized agents thereof, and be available for 2 adoption, subject to the provisions of section three hundred seventy- 3 seven-b of this article, or shall be euthanized subject to section three 4 hundred seventy-four of this article. 5 § 4. Section 332 of the agriculture and markets law, as amended by 6 chapter 449 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 7 § 332. Disposition. Any person having in [his or her] such person's 8 care, custody, or control any abandoned animal, as defined in section 9 three hundred thirty-one of this article, may deliver such animal to any 10 duly incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to animals or 11 any duly incorporated humane society having facilities for the care and 12 eventual disposition of such animals, or, in the case of dogs, cats and 13 other small animals, to any pound maintained by or under contract or 14 agreement with any county, city, town, or village within which such 15 animal was abandoned. The person with whom the animal was abandoned 16 shall, however, on the day of divesting [himself or herself] such person 17 of possession thereof, notify the person who had placed such animal in 18 [his or her] such person's custody of the name and address of the animal 19 society or pound to which the animal has been delivered, such notice to 20 be by registered letter mailed to the last known address of the person 21 intended to be so notified. If an animal is not claimed by its owner 22 within five days after being so delivered to such duly incorporated 23 society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, duly incorporated 24 humane society or pound, such animal may at any time thereafter be 25 placed for adoption, subject to the provisions of section three hundred 26 seventy-seven-b of this chapter, in a suitable home or euthanized in 27 accordance with the provisions of section three hundred seventy-four of 28 this chapter. In no event, however, shall the use of a decompression 29 chamber or decompression device of any kind be used for the purpose of 30 destroying or disposing of such animal. 31 § 5. Subdivisions 7 and 7-a of section 117 of the agriculture and 32 markets law, subdivision 7 as amended by section 13 of part T of chapter 33 59 of the laws of 2010, and subdivision 7-a as amended by chapter 83 of 34 the laws of 2011, are amended to read as follows: 35 7. An owner shall forfeit title to any dog unredeemed at the expira- 36 tion of the appropriate redemption period, and the dog shall then be 37 made available for adoption, subject to the provisions of section three 38 hundred seventy-seven-b of this chapter, or euthanized subject to subdi- 39 visions six, eight and nine of this section and subject to the 40 provisions of section three hundred seventy-four of this chapter. Any 41 municipality may by local law or ordinance establish additional condi- 42 tions for adoption including the requirement that adopted dogs shall be 43 spayed or neutered before or after release from custody upon such terms 44 and conditions as the municipality may establish. 45 7-a. Any animal in the custody of a pound or shelter shall be made 46 available for adoption, subject to the provisions of section three 47 hundred seventy-seven-b of this chapter, or euthanized subject to subdi- 48 visions six, eight and nine of this section and subject to the 49 provisions of section three hundred seventy-four of this chapter after 50 the time for redemption has expired; provided, however, that such 51 release may be made to another such pound, duly incorporated society for 52 the prevention of cruelty to animals, duly incorporated humane society 53 or duly incorporated animal protective association for the sole purpose 54 of placing such animal in an adoptive home, when such action is reason- 55 ably believed to improve the opportunity for adoption.
A. 2143 4 1 § 6. Section 429 of the agriculture and markets law is amended by 2 adding a new subdivision 16 to read as follows: 3 16. (a) No animal shelter shall release any dog or cat, for the 4 purposes of adoption or the return of a lost dog or cat to its owner, 5 unless such dog or cat has been injected with a microchip and the animal 6 shelter has confirmed that such owner has registered or amended the 7 contact information associated with such microchip company, subject to 8 the provisions of section three hundred seventy-seven-b of this chapter. 9 (b) Each animal shelter shall provide owners with written instructions 10 on how to register or amend such dog or cat's information with the 11 microchip company, subject to the provisions of section three hundred 12 seventy-seven-b of this chapter. 13 § 7. The opening paragraph of subdivision 1 of section 380 of the 14 agriculture and markets law, as added by chapter 470 of the laws of 2017 15 and such section as renumbered by chapter 683 of the laws of 2022, is 16 amended to read as follows: 17 Consistent with the provisions of section one hundred seventeen of 18 this chapter and sections three hundred seventy-three and three hundred 19 seventy-four of this article, no later than twenty-four hours, or as 20 soon as practicable, after a companion animal that is a dog or a cat has 21 been seized or taken possession of, [except for such animals that have 22 been surrendered by the owner,] by any dog control officer, animal 23 control officer or peace officer acting pursuant to [his or her] such 24 officer's special duties, or police officer in the employ of or under 25 contract with a municipality, or any duly incorporated society for the 26 prevention of cruelty to animals, pet dealers, duly incorporated humane 27 society, pound or shelter that is operated by or under contract to a 28 municipality, such officer, society, pound or shelter shall take steps 29 to: 30 § 8. Section 401 of the agriculture and markets law is amended by 31 adding a new subdivision 9 to read as follows: 32 9. Microchip. All dogs and cats shall be injected with a microchip 33 prior to such dog or cat being offered up for sale. Such pet dealer 34 shall provide new owners with written instructions on how to register or 35 amend such dog or cat's information with such microchip company. 36 Further, such pet dealer shall confirm such new owner has registered or 37 amended the contact information with such microchip company prior to 38 releasing such dog or cat into the custody of such new owner. 39 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately; provided however, section 40 six of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same 41 manner as section 2 of chapter 683 of the laws of 2022, takes effect.