2006 New York Code - Clipping Or Cutting The Ears Of Dogs.

 
    § 365. Clipping  or cutting the ears of dogs. 1. Whoever clips or cuts
  off or causes or procures another to clip or cut off the  whole  or  any
  part of an ear of any dog unless an anaesthetic shall have been given to
  the  dog  and  the  operation  performed  by a licensed veterinarian, is
  guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for  not  more  than
  one year, or a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by both.
    2. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any dog or person
  who is the owner or possessor of any dog whose ear or a part thereof has
  been  clipped  or  cut  off  prior  to September first, nineteen hundred
  twenty-nine.
    3. Each applicant for a dog license must  state  on  such  application
  whether  any  ear  of  the dog for which he applies for such license has
  been cut off wholly or in part.
    4. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as preventing  any  dog
  whose  ear or ears shall have been clipped or cut off wholly or in part,
  not in violation of this section, from being  imported  into  the  state
  exclusively for breeding purposes.