There are many laws, codes and regulations that relate to animals as well as, the interaction between humans and animals. Some are designed to ensure public health and safety; describing how a person should behave to ensure that their companion animals do not cause harm or injury to others. Some prohibit certain types of conduct towards animals, also known as humane laws. Below you may look at the various New York City and New York State laws that relate to animals. This is not an all-inclusive compilation of animal related laws in the city and state. However, they are a collection of the most common ones.

Note:  On November 8, 2000 an amendment to the New York City administrative code took effect requiring the spaying and castration of dogs and cats in NYC. This new law requires that all dogs or cats adopted from a shelter or redeemed by an owner from a shelter must be spayed or neutered before being released.

Animal Shelters and Sterilization Act

?b>17-801    Legislative Findings. The City Council hereby finds that New York City is experiencing a serious overpopulation of unwanted dogs and cats. This is a matter of serious concern affecting the public health, safety and welfare. The Center for Animal Care and Control, which operates animal shelters under contract with the City's Department of Health, estimates that 67,000 unwanted, stray or abandoned dogs and cats entered its facilities in 1998. Of these animals, approximately seventy percent were not spayed or neutered. Whiled wandering the City's streets, homeless dogs and cats reproduce at alarming rates, exacerbating a potentially unhealthy and dangerous situation. As a result of this situation, dog packs have formed in some areas, increasing numbers of individuals and animals are at risk for rabies, and many homeless animals have become the victims of vehicular accidents. These animals also suffer from lack of food and water and exposure to the elements. Given the large and growing number of unwanted dogs and cats, the Council finds that a law providing for a full-service animal shelter in each borough and the spaying and neutering of animals adopted from animal shelters or purchased from pet shops is necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of New York City residents. The Council also finds that with the advancement of medical knowledge over the past ten years, many veterinarians now advocate and practice early sterilization of pets, as early as eight weeks of age. Veterinarians at animal hospitals and humane shelters across the country, as well as the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, have performed thousands of early spay-neuter surgeries. Many veterinary associations now also agree that even though any surgery has inherent risks, kittens and puppies heal faster and are lower surgical risks than older animals who may be ill, in heat, or pregnant. If dogs or cats are spayed or neutered before adoption from a shelter or purchase from a pet shop, then the chance that they will add more unwanted offspring to the numbers that already exist will be eliminated.

?b>17-802    Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall be defined as follows:

a.                    "Adoption" means the delivery of a dog or cat deemed appropriate and suitable as a companion animal by an animal shelter to an individual at least eighteen years of age who has been approved to own, care and provide for the animal by the animal shelter.

b.                    "Consumer" means any individual purchasing an animal from a pet shop. A pet shop shall not be considered a consumer.

c.                    "Full-service shelter" shall mean a facility required to have a permit issued pursuant to subdivision (b) of section 161.09 of the New York city health code that houses lost, stray or homeless animals and:

(1) accepts dogs and cats twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week;
(2) has an adoption program open seven days a week; and
(3) provides sterilization services for dogs and cats and any other veterinary services deemed necessary by a licensed veterinarian at such shelter or at a veterinary facility.

d.                    "Pet shop" means a facility required to have a permit issued pursuant to subdivision (a) of section 161.09 of the New York city health code, where dogs and/or cats are sold, exchanged, bartered, or offered for sale as pet animals to the general public at retail for profit. Such definition shall not include full-service shelters or other animal shelters that make dogs and cats available for adoption whether or not a fee for such adoption is charged.

e.                    "Sterilization" means rendering a dog or cat, who is at least eight weeks of age, unable to reproduce by surgically altering the dog's or cat's reproductive organs. Such definition shall include the spaying of a female dog or cat or the neutering of a male dog or cat.

?b>17-803    Animal shelters. The department shall ensure that a full-service shelter is maintained in each borough of the city of New York.

?b>17-804    Sterilization required. a. No full-service shelter or other shelter for homeless animals required to have a permit issued pursuant to subdivision (b) of section 161.09 of the New York city health code shall release a dog or cat to a person claiming ownership thereof, or to a person adopting such dog or cat, unless such dog or cat has been sterilized by a licensed veterinarian; provided, however, that such requirement shall not apply:

(1) if a licensed veterinarian certifies to such shelter that he or she has examined such dog or cat and found that because of a medical reason, the life of such dog or cat would be endangered by sterilization; provided, however, that such reason shall not consist solely of the youth of such dog or cat, if such dog or cat is at least eight weeks of age;

(2) in the case of a dog, if such dog, within the time period provided for by law, rule or regulation, is claimed by a person claiming ownership thereof, and such person demonstrates to the satisfaction of the shelter that such dog has a breed ring show record from American Kennel Club or United Kennel Club or other similar, registry association, dated no more than twelve months prior to the date such dog has successfully completed the requirements of the American Kennel Club or United Kennel Club or other similar, registry association, for the title of Champion or its equivalent, at any time prior to the arrival of the dog at the shelter;

(3) in the case of a dog, if such dog, within the time period provided for by law, rule or regulation, is claimed by a person claiming ownership thereof, and such person demonstrates to the satisfaction of the shelter that such dog is a guide dog, hearing dog, service dog or police work dog; or

(4) in the case of a cat, if such cat within the time period provided for by law, rule or regulation, is claimed by a person claiming ownership thereof, and such person demonstrates to the satisfaction of such shelter that such cat has a breed show record from the Cat Fancier Association or other similar, registry association dated no more than twelve months prior to the date such cat entered such shelter or such person claiming ownership is able to provide proof that such cat has successfully completed the requirements of the Cat Fancier Association or other similar, registry association for the title Champion, Grand Champion or its equivalent, at any time prior to the arrival of the cat at the shelter.

b. No pet shop shall release to a consumer a dog or cat that has not been sterilized by a licensed veterinarian; provided, however, that such requirement shall not apply to a consumer who presents to the pet shop a letter from such consumer's licensed veterinarian, dated within the immediately preceding ten days, stating the reason(s) why, in the opinion of such veterinarian, such dog or cat should not be sterilized until a later specified date, not to exceed four months following the date of such letter. Such letter shall state that such veterinarian will cause such dog or cat to be sterilized at the request of such consumer on or before such later specified date. Such veterinarian shall also provide to the pet shop a certificate, in such form and manner as determined by rules promulgated by the department, stating the date on which such sterilization was performed. Any consumer who provides a pet shop with a letter with respect to a later sterilization of a dog or cat must ensure that such animal is sterilized by the date indicated in the letter.

c. Every pet shop, in accordance with rules promulgated by the department, shall maintain records of dog and cat sales, sterilization procedures performed at the request of the pet shop, and veterinarian letters and certificates received, and shall retain such records, letters and certificates for a period of two years. Such records, letters and certificates shall be made available to the department according to rules promulgated by the department.

?b>17-805    Reporting requirement. The department shall provide the mayor and the city council with a report by February twenty-eight of each year which shall set forth information regarding the management and operation of all full-service shelters performing services pursuant to a contract with the city of New York, including, but not limited to:

a.                    the number of animals accepted by each full-service shelter during the previous calendar year;

b.                    the number of animals that were sterilized at each full-service shelter during the previous calendar year;

c.                    the number of animals that were humanely euthanized at each full-service shelter during the previous calendar year;

d.                    the number of adoptable animals that were humanely euthanized at each full-service shelter during the previous calendar year;

e.                    the number of animals that were adopted at each full-service shelter during the previous calendar year;

f.                     the number of animals at each full-service shelter that were returned to their owner during the previous calendar year; and

g.                    the number of animals at each full-service shelter that were provided to other shelters for adoption during the previous calendar year.

?b>17-806    Violations. Any person found to be in violation of subdivisions (b) or (c) of section 17-804 of this chapter or any of the rules promulgated there under shall be liable for a civil penalty of not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for each violation. A proceeding to recover any civil penalty authorized pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be commenced by the service of a notice of violation which shall be returnable to the administrative tribunal established by the department.

?b>17-807    Rules. The commissioner shall promulgate such rules as are necessary for the purposes of implementing and carrying out the provisions of this chapter.

?b>17-808    Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or other portion of this local law is, for any reason, declared unconstitutional or invalid, in whole or in part, by any court of competent jurisdiction such portion shall be deemed severable, and such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this law, which remaining portions shall continue in full force and effect.

NEW YORK CITY HUMANE LAWS

?351. Prohibition of animal fighting

1. For purposes of this section, the term "animal fighting" shall mean any fight between cocks or other birds, or between dogs, bulls, bears or any other animals, or between any such animal and a person or persons, except in exhibitions of a kind commonly featured at rodeos.
2. Any person who engages in any of the following conduct is guilty of a felony and is punishable by imprisonment for a period not to exceed four years, or by a fine not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment:
(a) For amusement or gain, causes any animal to engage in animal fighting; or
(b) Trains any animal under circumstances evincing an intent that such animal engage in animal fighting for amusement or gain; or
(c) Permits any act described in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision to occur on premises under his control; or
(d) Owns, possesses or keeps any animal trained to engage in animal fighting on premises where an exhibition of animal fighting is being conducted under circumstances evincing an intent that such animal engage in animal fighting.
3. (a) Any person who engages in conduct specified in paragraph (b) of this subdivision is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable by imprisonment for a period not to exceed one year, or by a fine not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) The owning, possessing or keeping of any animal under circumstances evincing an intent that such animal engage in animal fighting.
4. (a) Any person who engages in conduct specified in paragraph (b) hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable by imprisonment for a period not to exceed one year, or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) The knowing presence as a spectator having paid an admission fee or having made a wager at any place where an exhibition of animal fighting is being conducted.

?353. Overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; failure to provide proper sustenance

A person who overdrives, overloads, tortures or cruelly beats or unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates or kills any animal, whether wild or tame, and whether belonging to himself or to another, or deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, food or drink, or neglects or refuses to furnish it such sustenance or drink, or causes, procures or permits any animal to be overdriven, overloaded, tortured, cruelly beaten, or unjustifiably injured, maimed, mutilated or killed, or to be deprived of necessary food or drink, or who willfully sets on foot, instigates, engages in, or in any way furthers any act of cruelty to any animal, or any act tending to produce such cruelty, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by both.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit or interfere with any properly conducted scientific tests, experiments or investigations, involving the use of living animals, performed or conducted in laboratories or institutions, which are approved for these purposes by the state commissioner of health. The state commissioner of health shall prescribe the rules under which such approvals shall be granted, including therein standards regarding the care and treatment of any such animals. Such rules shall be published and copies thereof conspicuously posted in each such laboratory or institution. The state commissioner of health or his duly authorized representative shall have the power to inspect such laboratories or institutions to insure compliance with such rules and standards. Each such approval may be revoked at any time for failure to comply with such rules and in any case the approval shall be limited to a period not exceeding one year.

?353-a. Aggravated cruelty to animals

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.

?354. Sale of baby chicks and baby rabbits

1. No person shall sell, offer for sale, barter or give away living baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or baby rabbits unless such person provides proper brooder facilities where appropriate for the care of such baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or baby rabbits during the time they are in the possession of such person. For the purposes of this section, a baby rabbit shall be a rabbit of less than two months of age.
2. No person shall sell, offer for sale, barter or display living baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or baby rabbits which have been dyed, colored or otherwise treated so as to impart to them an artificial color.
2-a. No provision of subdivision two shall be interpreted or applied to prevent or restrict teachers and qualified instructors of youth under the guidance and supervision of the New York state cooperative extension service from using eggs for non-profit educational purposes or from observing fowl hatched from such eggs for non-profit educational purposes.
3. No person shall sell, offer for sale, barter or give away living baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or baby rabbits under two months of age in any quantity less than six.
4. A violation of the provisions of this section is a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, or by both.

?331. Abandonment of certain animals

An animal is deemed to be abandoned when it is placed in the custody of a veterinarian, veterinary hospital, boarding kennel owner or operator, stable owner or operator, or any other person for treatment, board, or care and:
1. Having been placed in such custody for a specified period of time the animal is not removed at the end of such specified period and a notice to remove the animal within ten days thereafter has been given to the person who placed the animal in such custody, by means of registered letter mailed to the last known address of such person, or:
2. Having been placed in such custody for an unspecified period of time the animal is not removed within twenty days after notice to remove the animal has been given to the person who placed the animal in such custody, by means of a registered letter mailed to the last known address of such person.
3. The giving of notice as prescribed in this section shall be deemed a waiver of any lien on the animal for the treatment, board or care of the animal but shall not relieve the owner of the animal removed of his contractual liability for such treatment, board or care furnished.

?360. Poisoning or attempting to poison animals

A person who unjustifiably administers any poisonous or noxious drug or substance to a horse, mule or domestic cattle or unjustifiably exposes any such drug or substance with intent that the same shall be taken by horse, mule or by domestic cattle, whether such horse, mule or domestic cattle be the property of himself or another, is guilty of a felony. A person who unjustifiably administers any poisonous or noxious drug or substance to an animal, other than a horse, mule or domestic cattle, or unjustifiably exposes any such drug or substance with intent that the same shall be taken by an animal other than a horse, mule or domestic cattle, whether such animal be the property of himself or another, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by both.

?362. Throwing substance injurious to animals in public place

NEW YORK CITY HEALTH CODE

?161.01. Wild animals prohibited. [FN1]

(a) No person shall sell or give to another person, possess, harbor or keep wild animals identified in subsection (b) of this section or in regulations promulgated by the Commissioner pursuant to subsection (e) of this section other than in:

(1) A zoological park or aquarium operated by the Department of Parks, by the Wildlife Conservation Society, or by the Staten Island Zoological Society; or

(2) A laboratory operated pursuant to ?504 of the Public Health Law; or

(3) A circus or native wildlife rehabilitator licensed by federal or state agencies; or

(4) A place which has received the approval of the Department to exhibit or use such animals, and which has protective devices which are adequate to prevent such animal from escaping or injuring the public. The Department may impose reasonable conditions and time limits on the granting of such approval.

(b) For the purposes of this Code, wild animals are deemed to be any animals which are naturally inclined to do harm and capable of inflicting harm upon human beings and are hereby prohibited pursuant to subsection (a). Such animals shall include: (i) any animals specified by the Commissioner in regulations promulgated pursuant to this section; (ii) any native or exotic wildlife whose possession or sale is prohibited because they are designated as protected or endangered pursuant to any federal, state or local law, regulation, or rule; and (iii) any of the following animals:

(1) All dogs other than domesticated dogs (Canis familiaris), including, but not limited to, wolf, fox, coyote, hyaena, dingo, jackal, dhole, fennec, raccoon dog, zorro, bush dog, aardwolf, cape hunting dog and any hybrid offspring of a wild dog and domesticated dog.

(2) All cats other than domesticated cats (Felis catus), including, but not limited to, lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, puma, panther, mountain lion, cheetah, wild cat, cougar, bobcat, lynx, serval, caracal, jaguarundi, margay and any hybrid offspring of a wild cat and domesticated cat.

(3) All bears, including polar, grizzly, brown and black bear.

(4) All fur bearing mammals of the family Mustelidae, including, but not limited to, weasel, marten, mink, badger, ermine, skunk, otter, pole cat, zorille, wolverine, stoat and ferret.

(5) All Procyonidae: All raccoon (eastern, desert, ring-tailed cat), kinkajou, cacomistle, cat-bear, panda and coatimundi.

(6) All carnivorous mammals of the family Viverridae, including, but not limited to, civet, mongoose, genet, binturong, fossa, linsang and suri- cate.

(7) All bats (Chiroptera).

(8) All non-human primates, including, but not limited to, monkey, ape, chimpanzee, gorilla and lemur.

(9) All squirrels (Sciuridae).

(10) Reptiles (Reptilia). All Helodermatidae (gila monster and Mexican beaded lizard); all front-fanged venomous snakes, even if devenomized, including, but not limited to, all Viperidae (viper, pit viper), all Elapidae (cobra, mamba, krait, coral snake), all Atractaspididae (African burrowing asp), all Hydrophiidae (sea snake), all Laticaudidae (sea krait); all venomous, mid-or rear-fanged, Duvernoy-glanded members of the family Colubridae, even if devenomized; any member, or hybrid offspring of the family Boidae, including, but not limited to, the common or green anaconda and yellow anaconda; any member of the family Pythonidae, including but not limited to the African rock python, Indian or Burmese python, Amethystine or scrub python; any member of the family Varanidae, including the white throated monitor, Bosc's or African savannah monitor, Komodo monitor or dragon, Nile monitor, crocodile monitor, water monitor, Bornean earless monitor; any member of the family Iguanidae, including the green or common iguana; any member of the family teiidae, including, but not limited to the golden, common, or black and white tegu; all members of the family Chelydridae, including snapping turtle and alligator snapping turtle; and all members of the order Crocodylia, including, but not limited to alligator, caiman and crocodile.

(11) Birds and Fowl (Aves): All predatory or large birds, including, but not limited to, eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, vulture, condor, emu, rhea and ostrich; roosters, geese, ducks and turkeys prohibited or otherwise regulated pursuant to ?161.19 of this Code, the Agriculture and Markets Law or applicable federal law.

(12) All venomous insects, including, but not limited to, bee, hornet and wasp.

(13) Arachnida and Chilopoda: All venomous spiders, including, but not limited to, tarantula, black widow and solifugid; scorpion; all venomous arthropods including, but not limited to, centipede.

(14) All large rodents (Rodentia), including, but not limited to, gopher, muskrat, paca, woodchuck, marmot, beaver, prairie dog, capybara, sewellel, viscacha, porcupine and hutia.

(15) All even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla) including, but not limited to, deer, antelope, sheep, giraffe and hippopotamus.

(16) All odd-toed ungulates (Perissodactyla) other than domesticated horses (Equus caballus), including, but not limited to, zebra, rhinoceros and tapir.

(17) All marsupials, including, but not limited to, Tasmanian devil, dasyure, bandicoot, kangaroo, wallaby, opossum, wombat, koala bear, cuscus, numbat and pigmy, sugar and greater glider.

Recent Case Law

New York, July 12, 2002 -- Justice Herbert Kramer of the New York State Supreme Court has upheld the provision of the New York City Administrative Code that every dog and cat that is released by a full-service animal shelter, whether being reclaimed by its prior owner or being adopted by a new owner, be sterilized prior to release.  Justice Kramer held that the legal requirement was constitutional and did not violate the principle of equal protection.

The plaintiff뭩 two male Rottweiler dogs were alone in an apartment when a City Marshall executed a warrant of eviction.  The dogs were brought for safekeeping to a shelter run by the Center for Animal Care and Control, a non-profit entity that, among other activities, performs animal control functions pursuant to a contract with the City of New York.  When the plaintiff attempted to retrieve the dogs, he was told that, pursuant to the Animal Shelters and Sterilization Act of 2000, they had to be neutered before being released.  He brought suit in State Supreme Court seeking an order that the dogs be released intact.

Justice Kramer found that there is no equal protection violation in the fact that the Act provides three very narrow exceptions: (1) for animals whose health would be endangered by sterilization, (2) for animals that have a breed ring show record, or (3) for service animals that are bred for their special skills. 

The judge found that the distinction between breed ring show animals and other pedigree animals did not violate equal protection.  Justice Kramer stated: 밪o long as a law does not discriminate against suspect classes of people, a court must accord wide latitude to a legislature뭩 judgment as to the circumstances warranting the exercise of a city뭩 police power.?nbsp; Since the plaintiff could not show that there was no rational connection between the provision and the promotion of public safety, the provision to neuter the animals that came into the shelter system was lawful.

The case was handled by Assistant Corporation Counsel Louise Moed of the New York City Law Department뭩 Administrative Law Division.  She said, 밫he City Council hearings that led to the adoption of the Act made it clear that the Act had wide support among animal rights activists as well as veterinarians and other public health professionals.   They recognized that controlling the animal population of the City is important in protecting the public health and safety.?/font>