2012 New York Consolidated Laws
LSA - 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,  or  such  greater  amount as determined by the city
  council or the board of health in the code of such  city,  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  city
  comptroller  for  deposit  in the animal population control fund created
  pursuant to section 17-812 of the administrative code of the city of New
  York.
    § 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 established
  pursuant to section 17-812 of the administrative code of the city of New
  York and any veterinarian who shall furnish false information concerning
  an  animal  sterilization  fee  schedule  or  an  animal   sterilization
  certificate  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.