What's happening
This bill creates new and harsher criminal penalties for animal fighting and associated activities, including enterprise-level animal cruelty.
Why it matters
Creates tiered criminal offenses for animal fighting. , distinguishing between third, second, and first degrees, as well as a new “enterprise” level for organized, repeated, or large-scale animal fighting—meaning harsher penalties the more serious or organized the activity.
Establishes criminal liability for a broader range of conduct. not just participating in fights, but also possessing fighting paraphernalia, training or breeding animals for fighting, being present at fights, or allowing one’s property to be used for animal fighting, thus targeting all aspects of the animal fighting enterprise.
Imposes significantly increased financial penalties and felony charges. for those convicted, especially for repeat offenders or those involved in enterprise-level operations, reflecting a shift to treating organized animal fighting as a serious criminal enterprise rather than just a minor offense.
Expands forfeiture and sentencing provisions. , allowing courts to order convicted individuals to forfeit animals involved and face fines up to $35,000, and ensures repeat and enterprise offenders face felony charges—potentially deterring organized animal cruelty and enabling stronger law enforcement action.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Crack Down on Animal Fighting
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.185
- Referred to domestic animal welfare
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to agriculture
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
Show 3 earlier actions
- 1st report cal.552
- Committee discharged and committed to domestic animal welfare
- Referred to agriculture
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Crack Down on Animal Fighting
In Assembly Committee · Agriculture · Sponsor Kenneth Zebrowski
Full text
4 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
94
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sens. KAMINSKY, BROOKS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Agriculture
AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law and the penal law, in relation to detecting, disrupting and dismantling violent enterprise animal cruelty and appropriately punishing individuals associated with such enterprise cruelty; and to repeal certain provisions of the agriculture and markets law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 350 of the agriculture and markets law is amended by adding two new subdivisions 6 and 7 to read as follows:
6. "Animal fighting" means any fight between animals, or between any animal and a person or persons, for amusement or gain. The term shall not be construed to include exhibitions of a kind commonly featured at rodeos.
7. "Animal fighting paraphernalia" means equipment, products, or materials of any kind that are used, intended for use, or designed for use in the training, preparation, conditioning or furtherance of animal fighting. Animal fighting paraphernalia includes (i) a breaking stick, which means a device designed for insertion behind the molars of a dog for the purpose of breaking the dog's grip on another animal or object, (ii) a cat mill, which means a device that rotates around a central support with one arm designed to secure a dog and one arm designed to secure a cat, rabbit, or other small animal beyond the grasp of the dog, (iii) a treadmill, which means an exercise device consisting of an endless belt on which the animal walks or runs without changing places, (iv) a springpole, which means a biting surface attached to a stretchable device, suspended at a height sufficient to prevent a dog from reaching the biting surface while touching the ground, (v) a fighting pit, which means a walled area, or otherwise defined area, designed to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03414-01-9
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contain an animal fight, and (vi) any other instrument commonly used in the furtherance of pitting an animal against another animal.
§ 2. Section 351 of the agriculture and markets law is REPEALED and a new section 351 is added to read as follows:
§ 351. Promoting animal fighting in the third degree. A person is guilty of promoting animal fighting in the third degree when such person:
1. Owns, possesses, sells, transfers or manufactures animal fighting paraphernalia under circumstances evincing an intent that such paraphernalia be used to engage in or otherwise promote or facilitate animal fighting; or
2. Is present at any place where an exhibition of animal fighting is being conducted and such person has knowledge that such an exhibition is being conducted.
Promoting animal fighting in the third degree is a class B misdemeanor and, for purposes of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 160.10 of the criminal procedure law, shall be treated as a misdemeanor defined in the penal law.
§ 3. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding four new sections 351-a, 351-b, 351-c and 351-d to read as follows:
§ 351-a. Promoting animal fighting in the second degree. A person is guilty of promoting animal fighting in the second degree when such person:
1. Owns, possesses, or keeps any animal under circumstances evincing an intent that such animal engage in, or in any way facilitate, animal fighting; or
2. Commits the crime of promoting animal fighting in the third degree in violation of subdivision one of section three hundred fifty-one of this article and has been convicted within the previous five years of a violation of this section, section three hundred fifty-one, three hundred fifty-one-b, three hundred fifty-three, three hundred fiftythree-a, three hundred fifty-six, three hundred fifty-nine, three hundred sixty-one, or three hundred sixty-six of this article; or
3. Commits the crime of promoting animal fighting in the third degree in violation of subdivision two of section three hundred fifty-one of this article, and:
(a) has been convicted within the previous five years of a violation of this section, section three hundred fifty-one, three hundred fiftyone-b, three hundred fifty-three, three hundred fifty-three-a, three hundred fifty-six, three hundred fifty-nine, three hundred sixty-one, or three hundred sixty-six of this article, or
(b) has paid an admission fee, made a wager, or otherwise actively contributed, in any manner, to the exhibition of animal fighting being conducted.
Promoting animal fighting in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor and, for purposes of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 160.10 of the criminal procedure law, shall be treated as a misdemeanor defined in the penal law.
§ 351-b. Promoting animal fighting in the first degree. A person is guilty of promoting animal fighting in the first degree when such person:
1. Causes an animal to engage in animal fighting;
2. Trains an animal under circumstances evincing an intent that such animal engage in animal fighting;
S. 94 3
3. Breeds, transfers, sells, or offers for sale an animal under circumstances evincing an intent that such animal engage in animal fighting;
4. Permits any act described in subdivision one, two or three of this section to occur on premises under his or her control; or
5. Owns, possesses, harbors, or keeps any animal on premises where an exhibition of animal fighting is being conducted under circumstances evincing an intent that such animal engage in animal fighting.
Promoting animal fighting in the first degree is a class D felony.
§ 351-c. Promoting enterprise animal fighting. A person is guilty of promoting enterprise animal fighting when such person:
1. Commits the crime of promoting animal fighting in the first degree in violation of subdivision one of section three hundred fifty-one-b of this article as part of, during, or in connection with a continuous exhibition of animal fighting that includes more than two animals in successive acts of animal fighting;
2. Commits the crime of promoting animal fighting in the first degree in violation of subdivision two or three of section three hundred fifty-one-b of this article and is in possession of more than six animals under circumstances evincing an intent that such animals engage in, or otherwise facilitate, animal fighting;
3. Permits an act described in subdivision one of section three hundred fifty-one-b of this article to occur on premises under his or her control, where such act is a continuous exhibition of animal fighting that includes more than two animals in successive acts of animal fighting; or
4. Commits the crime of promoting animal fighting in the first degree in violation of section three hundred fifty-one-b of this article and has been convicted, within the previous five years, of a violation of section three hundred fifty-one, three hundred fifty-one-a, three hundred fifty-one-b, three hundred fifty-three, three hundred fiftythree-a, three hundred fifty-six, three hundred fifty-nine, three hundred sixty-one, or three hundred sixty-six of this article.
Promoting enterprise animal fighting in the first degree is a class C felony.
§ 351-d. Authorized dispositions; promoting animal fighting. When a person is convicted of an offense defined in subdivision one of section three hundred fifty-one-a of this article, in addition to the penalties provided in section three hundred seventy-four of this article and those provided in the other laws of this state, the court may impose a fine which shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars. When a person is convicted of an offense defined in section three hundred fifty-one-b of this article, in addition to the penalties provided in section three hundred seventy-four of this article and those provided in the other laws of this state, the court may impose a fine which shall not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars. When a person is convicted of an offense defined in section three hundred fifty-one-c of this article, in addition to the penalties provided in section three hundred seventy-four of this article and those provided in the other laws of this state, the court may impose a fine which shall not exceed thirty-five thousand dollars.
§ 4. Paragraph a of subdivision 8 of section 374 of the agriculture and markets law, as amended by chapter 594 of the laws of 2003 and subdivision 8 as renumbered by chapter 479 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
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a. In addition to any other penalty provided by law, upon conviction for any violation of section three hundred fifty-one, three hundred fifty-one-a, three hundred fifty-one-b, three hundred fifty-one-c, three hundred fifty-three, three hundred fifty-three-a, three hundred fiftythree-b, three hundred fifty-five, three hundred fifty-six, three hundred fifty-nine, three hundred sixty, three hundred sixty-one, three hundred sixty-five or three hundred sixty-eight of this article, the convicted person may, after a duly held hearing pursuant to paragraph f of this subdivision, be ordered by the court to forfeit, to a duly incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to animals or a duly incorporated humane society or authorized agents thereof, the animal or animals which are the basis of the conviction. Upon such an order of forfeiture, the convicted person shall be deemed to have relinquished all rights to the animals which are the basis of the conviction, except those granted in paragraph d of this subdivision.
§ 5. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 70.06 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 410 of the laws of 1979, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A second felony offender is a person, other than a second violent felony offender as defined in section 70.04, who stands convicted of a felony [defined in this chapter], other than a class A-I felony, after having previously been subjected to one or more predicate felony convictions as defined in paragraph (b) of this subdivision.
§ 6. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such invalid provisions had not been included herein.
§ 7. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law and the penal law, in relation to detecting, disrupting and dismantling violent enterprise animal cruelty and appropriately punishing individ- uals associated with such enterprise cruelty; and to repeal certain provisions of the agriculture and markets law relating thereto
Purpose
This bill seeks to clarify and enhance the animal crimes laws of New York State as they pertain to animal fighting. It does so by introducing a new felony level offense for enterprise animal fighting, consolidating definitions, stratifying levels of offense, altering penalty classifica- tions, and harmonizing provisions with the criminal procedure law and the penal law.
Summary of provisions
The bill predominately dissects and modifies the existing section 351 of the agriculture and markets law, which currently houses the various level offenses which pertain to animal fighting. As it currently stands, section 351 contains a definitions section as well as proscribed conduct sections. Unlike other modern criminal law statutes, the one section houses multiple classifications of crime: including unclassified felo- nies, unclassified misdemeanors, and class B misdemeanors.
Read the full memo (1,353 words)
Section three of this bill transfers the pre-existing definitions of "animal fighting" and "animal fighting paraphernalia" out of section 351 and into section 350 of the agriculture and markets law (section 350 is the "definitions" section for the overarching article). The definition of "animal fighting paraphernalia" is substantively unchanged. The defi- nition of "animal fighting" is streamlined but possesses no change of legal import.
Section four of this bill repeals the existing section 351 in its entirety and breaks it into three successive criminal statutes (proposed sections 351 (Promoting Animal Fighting in the Third Degree), 351-a (Promoting Animal Fighting in the Second Degree), and 351-b (Promoting Animal Fighting in the First Degree)). The proposed section 351 contains vestiges of the existing subdivisions (6) and (5) of section 351. Specifically, section 351(6)(a), which pertains to animal fighting paraphernalia, serves as the foundation for the proposed section 351(1). Section 351(5)(b), which pertains to the knowing attendance of an animal fight, serves as the foundation for the proposed section 351(2). Both offenses remain class B misdemeanors despite the transfer; however, with the addition of language that harmonizes these class B misdemeanors with penal law misdemeanors, violators are subjected to the taking of finger- prints, palmprints, and mugshots (as with any penal law misdemeanor). The proposed section 351(1) also replaces the concept of "intentional" possession, which is virtually unique among possession-based crimes, with language that harmonizes the level of proof to other existing passages of section 351 (most notably as they relate to possession of animals themselves).
Section five of this bill creates the new crime of Promoting Animal Fighting in the Second Degree, which, in turn, derives its passages from the existing subdivisions (3) and (4) of section 351. Substantive changes to those passages are as follows: (1) the proposed 351-a(1) includes language of "facilitation" of animal fighting, which thusly now includes "bait animals"; (2) the proposed 351-a(2) and 351-a(3) (a) predicate higher penalties on a broader classification of animal crimes offenses, rather than limiting the higher penalty thresholds to a strict re-offense of a specific clause of the statute; (3) violation of the offense now allows for the taking of fingerprints, palmprints, and mugshot at the time of arrest processing.
Section six of this bill creates the new crime of Promoting Animal Fighting in the First Degree, which, in turn, derives its passages from the existing subdivision (2) of section 351. The passages are for the most part transferred without substantive modification, except that the inclusion of the word "transfers" in the language of the proposed 351-b(3) allows for criminal liability without proof of an actual exchange of assets. The penalty for violation of these provisions is also upgraded from an unclassified felony (which otherwise functions as a class E felony) to a class D felony.
Section seven of this bill creates the new crime of Promoting Enterprise Animal Fighting, which serves to elevate the penalty for highly-organ- ized criminal fighting ventures. In order to violate this statute, an offender must (a) be a participant in a "continuous exhibition of animal fighting that includes more than two animals in successive acts of animal fighting," (b) be in possession of "more than six animals under circumstances evincing an intent that such animals engage in, or other- wise facilitate, animal fighting," (c) host a "continuous exhibition of animal fighting that includes more than two animals in successive acts of animal fighting," or (d) repeatedly offend the provisions protecting animals from cruelty.
Section eight of this bill truncates and transplants the authorized sentencing provisions of the existing section 351 into a separate stat- ute as well as adds an opposite sentencing range for the newly created offense of Promoting Enterprise Animal Fighting.
Section nine of this bill conforms the special sentencing provisions of section 374 to the aforesaid statutory changes.
Section ten of this bill eliminates a bizarre loophole in the penal law whereby a repeat felony offender of the animal cruelty provisions cannot be eligible for second felony offender status. It is noted that, pursu- ant to section 70.70 of the penal law, a third-time offender of the animal cruelty provisions can be eligible for persistent felony offender status.
Section eleven of this bill consists of a severability clause.
Section twelve of this bill consists of its effective date.
Justification
This bill will dramatically impact the state's enforcement of animal fighting, most notably dog- and cock-fighting. According to some esti- mates, dogfighting is a billion-dollar underground economy - just in the United States. Some studies put the United States' share of this enter- prise at a full third of the global dogfighting economy. Money is not only made by abhorrent wagers on the outcomes of fights, but also through the illicit breeding, marketing, trading, and sale of dogs. Professional fighters will market the bloodlines of their winners, make money off of forced breeding sessions (whether successful or not), and sell litters as fast as they can be produced. The underground industry is such that, besides the fighters, there are individuals who specialize as "promoters" of fights, as breeders, as trainers, and as sellers. Because the activity must go undetected, there is also a strong subver- sive demand for medications, specialized equipment, veterinary services, and "dark web" communication platforms (unregistered internet sites, invisible to public view).
Another awful truth of this already-atrocious enterprise is that fight- ers will sometimes steal animals from their surrounding community small dogs or cats - to use for bait or training for their kennels. Due to the financial benefits of this enterprise, animal fighting often serves as an underground economy for narcotics and weapons traffickers.
The current laws in effect for combating animal fighting are insuffi- cient to deter perpetrators from the possible financial benefits of participation. In Nassau County, an individual was recently captured and convicted for a fourth dogfighting offense in 16 years. Indeed, in the most recent case, he was rearrested on new animal fighting charges while on parole for only one month following release from his last felony conviction. His sentencing exposure for the most recent arrest remained capped at 1 and 1/3 to 4 years' incarceration, with early release eligi- bility much sooner than the full term. The concept that highly organ- ized, underground criminal enterprises, no matter how sophisticated or connected with other illegal enterprises, can only be punished at a class E felony level is inherently faulty. Equally faulty is the concept that current misdemeanor animal fighting charges do not allow for the capture of fingerprints, palmprints, or mugshots upon arrest.
As animal fighting is almost always multiple animals being abused simul- taneously, the sentencing and penalty structure should be modified to take this "exponential" aspect into account. This bill recognizes the seriousness and pervasiveness of the underground world of animal fight- ing, its financial appeal, its associated crimes, and its weak enforce- ment, and moves to correct it with measured and reasonable levels of criminal liability.
Legislative history
S.251- 2017/2018 S.8199- 2016
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
90 days after enactment.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.