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 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.