Bill Text: NY A00588 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Establishes the crimes of cruelty to animals to threaten, intimidate or harass in the second degree and cruelty to animals to threaten, intimidate or harass in the first degree when in the presence of a minor child.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to codes [A00588 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A00588-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           588
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                       (Prefiled)
                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL, SEAWRIGHT -- read once and referred
          to the Committee on Codes
        AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crimes of
          cruelty  to  animals  to  threaten, intimidate or harass in the second
          degree and first degree
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1. The penal law is amended by adding two new sections 120.80
     2  and 120.85 to read as follows:
     3  § 120.80 Cruelty to animals to threaten, intimidate  or  harass  in  the
     4             second degree.
     5    1. A person is guilty of cruelty to animals to threaten, intimidate or
     6  harass  in  the  second  degree  when he or she intentionally injures or
     7  kills, with no justifiable purpose, any companion animal with the intent
     8  to threaten, intimidate, or harass a family or household member  who  he
     9  or  she  knows  or  should have known owned, possessed, leased, kept, or
    10  held such companion animal.
    11    2. For purposes of this section:
    12    (a) "Family or household member" shall have the same meaning as subdi-
    13  vision two  of section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social  services
    14  law.
    15    (b) "Companion animal" shall have the same meaning as subdivision five
    16  of section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets law.
    17    Cruelty  to  animals  to  threaten, intimidate or harass in the second
    18  degree is a class D felony.
    19  § 120.85 Cruelty to animals to threaten, intimidate  or  harass  in  the
    20             first degree.
    21    1. A person is guilty of cruelty to animals to threaten, intimidate or
    22  harass  in  the  first  degree when   he or she intentionally injures or
    23  kills, with no justifiable purpose and in the presence of a minor child,
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04066-01-9
        A. 588                              2
     1  any companion animal with the intent to threaten, intimidate, or  harass
     2  a  family  or  household member who he or she knows or should have known
     3  owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held such companion animal.
     4    2. For purposes of this section:
     5    (a) "Family or household member" shall have the same meaning as subdi-
     6  vision  two  of section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social services
     7  law.
     8    (b) "Companion animal" shall have the same meaning as subdivision five
     9  of section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets law.
    10    (c) "Minor child" means an individual under the age of eighteen.
    11    (d) "Presence of a minor child" shall mean in the physical presence of
    12  a child under the age of eighteen knowing or having reason to know  that
    13  a child is present and may see or hear such act.
    14    Cruelty  to  animals  to  threaten,  intimidate or harass in the first
    15  degree is a class C felony.
    16    § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
    17  have become a law.