2006 New York Code - Lost and Strayed Animals 115/1894

Lost and Strayed Animals 115/1894

 
                       Chapter 115 of the laws of 1894
 
         AN ACT FOR THE BETTER PROTECTION OF LOST AND STRAYED ANIMALS,
              AND FOR SECURING THE RIGHTS OF THE OWNERS THEREOF
 
    Section  1.  Every  person who owns or harbors one or more dogs within
  the corporate limits of  any  city  having  a  population  of  over  two
  million, shall procure a yearly license and pay the sum of seven dollars
  and  forty  cents,  plus  a  tag  fee  of  one  dollar, for each dog, as
  hereinafter provided; and in applying for such license, or  any  renewal
  under  section  two  hereof,  the owner shall state in writing the name,
  sex, breed, age, color and marking of the dog, for which the license  is
  to  be  procured.    In  the  case  of  a  spayed or neutered dog, every
  application shall also be accompanied  by  a  certificate  signed  by  a
  licensed  veterinarian or an affidavit signed by the owner, showing that
  the dog has been spayed or neutered. In  lieu  of  the  spay  or  neuter
  certificate or affidavit an owner may present a statement certified by a
  licensed  veterinarian  stating  that  he has examined the dog and found
  that because of old age or other reason, the life of the  dog  would  be
  endangered by spaying or neutering.
    §  2.  On  and  after  the  effective  date  of this act, licenses and
  renewals thereof granted under this act shall be valid for a term of one
  year from the date of  issuance,  and  must  be  renewed  prior  to  the
  expiration  of the term by the payment of seven dollars and forty cents,
  plus a tag fee of one dollar, for each renewal.
    § 2-a. Any person who was required to but failed to obtain  a  license
  or  renewal  thereof  on or before the date prescribed by section two of
  this act or within ten days thereafter, shall pay, in  addition  to  the
  fee  prescribed  by  this  act  for  such  license  or  renewal,  a late
  registration fee of two dollars.
    § 3. Each certificate of license or renewal shall state the  name  and
  address  of the owner of the dog, and also the number of such license or
  renewal.
    § 3-a. In addition to the fee charged pursuant to sections one and two
  of this chapter, any person applying for a dog license shall pay  a  fee
  of  three  dollars for any dog four months of age or older which has not
  been spayed or neutered  unless  an  owner  presents  with  the  license
  application  a  statement  certified  by a licensed veterinarian stating
  that he or she has examined the dog and found that because of old age or
  other reasons, the life of the dog would be  endangered  by  spaying  or
  neutering. All fees collected pursuant to the provisions of this section
  shall  be  forwarded  to the state comptroller for deposit in the animal
  population control fund created pursuant to section 97-xx of  the  state
  finance law and section 117-a of the agriculture and markets law.
    §  4. Every dog so licensed shall at all times have a collar about its
  neck with a metal tag  attached  thereto,  bearing  the  number  of  the
  license stamped thereon.
    § 5. Dogs not licensed pursuant to the provisions of this act shall be
  seized,  and  if not redeemed within forty-eight hours, may be destroyed
  or otherwise disposed of, as hereinafter provided.
    § 6. It is further provided that any cat found  within  the  corporate
  limits of any such city without a collar about its neck bearing the name
  and  residence  of the owner stamped thereon, may be seized and disposed
  of in like manner, as prescribed above for dogs.
    § 7. Any person claiming a dog or cat seized under the  provisions  of
  this  act,  and  proving  ownership thereof, shall be entitled to resume
  possession of the animal on payment of the sum of three dollars.


    § 8. The American society for the prevention of cruelty to animals  is
  hereby empowered and authorized to carry out the provisions of this act,
  and  the  said  society  is  further  authorized  to  issue licenses and
  renewals, and to collect the fees for such,  as  is  herein  prescribed,
  which  fees are to be used by said society towards defraying the cost of
  carrying out the provisions of this act and mainatining  a  shelter  for
  lost, strayed or homeless animals.
    §  8-a.  1.  The  legislature  finds  and  declares  that the study of
  diseases of dogs is of vital importance to help in curbing the spread of
  disease and in promoting the health and welfare of  the  people  of  the
  state;  that  the  research into diseases of dogs and the search for and
  the study of viruses that affect man and animals can  be  of  invaluable
  assistance  in  preventing  and curing disease generally; and that funds
  for such research and studies should be made available by increasing the
  annual fees for the licensing of dogs.
    2. To all fees for licensing of dogs, as provided in this  act,  there
  shall be added the sum of ten cents.
    3.  On  or  before  the fifteenth day of each month, the society shall
  remit to the commissioner of agriculture and markets all such additional
  ten cent license  fees  received  by  it  during  the  preceeding  month
  pursuant to this section.
    § 8-b. No person holding a permit issued pursuant to section 161.09 of
  the  New  York city health code shall sell a dog without first requiring
  the purchaser to submit an application for a dog license and to pay  all
  required  fees,  unless  such purchaser shall execute and submit to such
  seller a written statement that  the  dog  to  be  purchased  is  to  be
  harbored  outside  the  city.  Such  applications and written statements
  shall be on forms furnished by the society and shall,  within  ten  days
  after  execution  by  a  purchaser,  be  forwarded  by the seller to the
  society.
    Any seller processing an application pursuant to this  section  shall,
  on  or  before  the  tenth day of the month next succeeding the month in
  which collected, remit to the society the amount of fees collected  less
  one dollar for each application processed.
    §  8-c.  Notwithstanding  the provisions of section eight of this act,
  the power to issue licenses and renewals and to collect  fees  therefor,
  to  maintain  a shelter or other facility for lost, strayed and homeless
  animals in each borough and otherwise to carry  out  the  provisions  of
  this  act may be transferred to any city having a population of over two
  million and exercised within such city by an agency  designated  by  the
  mayor  of  such  city.  Such agency so designated shall be authorized to
  enter into a contract or contracts for the performance of some or all of
  the duties to be performed under this act with one or more organizations
  incorporated under the not-for-profit corporation law, except  any  such
  organization  the corporate purposes of which include or which otherwise
  engages in the use of animals for  research,  experimentation,  testing,
  teaching  or  demonstration,  or  any  such organization, the directors,
  officers, employees or agents of which have been found to  have  engaged
  in  any  of the activities prohibited in section twelve of this act. The
  transfer of powers authorized by this section shall take effect:
    (1) on the effective date of an agreement between such city, acting by
  its mayor, and the American society for the  prevention  of  cruelty  to
  animals  providing  for  the orderly transfer of the performance of such
  duties to an agency of the city; or
    (2) eighteen months after notice by such society to such city of  such
  society's intention to relinquish the powers delegated to it by this act
  or  such  later  date  as  may  be  specified  in such notice, provided,
  however, that such society shall continue  to  exercise  the  powers  so


  delegated  for  such  additional  period  of time as may be necessary to
  ensure an orderly transfer of the exercise of  such  powers  to  a  city
  agency designated in accordance with this section; or
    (3)  no  less  than  eighteen months after notice by such city to such
  society of the city's intention to assume such powers or such later date
  as may be specified in such notice.
    § 9. Any person or persons, who shall hinder or  molest  or  interfere
  with any officer or agent of said society in the performance of any duty
  enjoined  by this act, or who shall use a license tag on a dog for which
  it was not issued, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.  Any  person
  who  owns or harbors a dog without complying with the provisions of this
  act shall be deemed guilty of disorderly conduct,  and  upon  conviction
  thereof  before  any  magistrate shall be fined for such offense any sum
  not exceeding ten dollars, and in default of payment of such fine may be
  committed to prison by such magistrate until the same be paid, but  such
  imprisonment  shall  not exceed ten days. Any person who for the purpose
  of participating  in  the  "animal  population  control  program"  shall
  falsify  proof  of  adoption  from  a  pound, shelter, duly incorporated
  society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, humane society or  dog
  or  cat  protective  association  or  who  shall  furnish  any  licensed
  veterinarian of this state with inaccurate information concerning his or
  her residency or the ownership of an animal or such  person's  authority
  to  submit  an  animal  for a spaying or neutering procedure pursuant to
  section 117-a of the agriculture and markets law  and  any  veterinarian
  who  shall furnish the commissioner with false information concerning an
  animal sterilization fee schedule or an animal sterilization certificate
  submitted pursuant to subdivision 4 of section 117-a of the  agriculture
  and  markets  law shall be guilty of a violation punishable by a fine of
  not more than two hundred fifty dollars where prosecuted pursuant to the
  penal law, or where prosecuted as an action to recover a  civil  penalty
  of not more than two hundred fifty dollars.
    § 10. The department of health of any city having a population of over
  two   million,  in  consultation  with  the  American  society  for  the
  prevention of cruelty to animals, shall  prescribe  standards  for  such
  city  for the humane treatment of animals impounded pursuant to this act
  and shall provide for regular inspection to ensure compliance with  such
  standards.
    § 11. Any animal impounded pursuant to this act which is unclaimed may
  be  delivered  to  an  individual eighteen years of age or older for the
  purpose of harboring such animal as a companion animal.
    § 12. No animal impounded pursuant to this act or in the care, custody
  or control of an animal shelter or other facility for lost, strayed  and
  homeless  animals shall be sold, transferred or otherwise made available
  to any person for the purpose  of  research,  experimentation,  testing,
  teaching  or  demonstration.  Any  person who violates the provisions of
  this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of five hundred dollars
  for each violation.
    § 13. None of the provisions of this act shall apply to dogs owned  by
  non-residents  passing through the city, nor to dogs brought to the city
  and entered for exhibition at any dog show.
    § 14. The thirtieth subdivision of section eighty-six of chapter  four
  hundred and ten of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-two, entitled
  "An act to consolidate into one act and to declare the special and local
  laws  affecting public interests in the city of New York," and all other
  acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are
  hereby repealed.