S6093-2011 Actions

• Jun 12, 2012: PRINT NUMBER 6093B
• Jun 12, 2012: AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO CONSUMER PROTECTION
• Feb 23, 2012: PRINT NUMBER 6093A
• Feb 23, 2012: AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO CONSUMER PROTECTION
• Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION

S6093-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S6093

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the general business law, in relation to dogs and cats unfit
for purchase due to illness, a congenital malformation, or symptoms of a
contagious or infectious disease

PURPOSE:
This legislation will protect consumers and their pets from the sale
of "Puppy Mills."

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section One - amends Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 753 of the
general business law to state six months following the sale of an
animal subject to this article or receipt of the written notice
required by a veterinarian of the consumer's choosing, licensed by a
state certifies an animal to be unfit for purchase due to illness, a
congenital malformation which adversely affects the health of the
animal, or the presence of symptoms of a contagious or injections
disease the pet dealer will be responsible to either one of the
following:

A.) The right to return the animal and receive a refund of the
purchase price including sales tax and reasonable veterinary costs
directly related to the veterinarian's certification that the animal
is unfit for purchase and the veterinarian's treatment of the animal
for the conditionals that makes the animal unfit for purchase.

B.) The right to return the animal and receive an exchange animal of
the consumer's choice of equivalent value and reasonable veterinary
costs directly related to the veterinarian's certification that the
animal is unfit for purchase and for such veterinarian's treatment of
the animal for the condition that makes the animal unfit for purchase.

The costs of treatment for the animal's illness will be covered during
the lifetime of the animal.

JUSTIFICATION:
Puppy mills are large-scale commercial breeding facilities that sell
primarily to retail pet shops or individual consumers where dogs are
bred solely for profit, with no concern for their physical health or
psychological well-being. Most animals in these facilities are
disease-ridden and forcebred continuously.

The animals produced at puppy mills are often sold on the internet, in
newspaper ads, through brokers, or through pet stores. Puppy mills
are not covered under the 1966 federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and
many of these facilities do not meet those minimal standards for
animal care. At these puppy mills, animals receive minimal veterinary
care, poor quality of food and water, lack of human interaction and
overcrowded cages. In the worst puppy mills, after reaching a certain
age, unwanted animals are euthanized.

For consumers who buy puppies or kittens farmed at pet mills, they
sometimes find that the animal has health problems caused from over


breeding and their pet dies within the first year of purchase. Those
pets that survive from these health issues can have conditions that
require numerous veterinary bills and/or have genetic problems that
may not arise until many years later.
These health conditions can bring emotional and financial burdens onto
the pet owner, which may ultimately cause the pet to be given to a
shelter or, worse, euthanized.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to State.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This law will take effect on the thirtieth day after becoming law.

S6093-2011 Text

 S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 
 
                                         6093
 I N  SENATE
 (PREFILED)
 January 4, 2012
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  BALL  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection
 

AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to dogs  and  cats
 unfit for purchase due to illness, a congenital malformation, or symp
 toms of a contagious or infectious disease
 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 753 of the general  business  law,
 as  added by chapter 431 of the laws of 1988, and such section as renum
 bered and the opening paragraph as amended by chapter 68 of the laws  of
 1993, is amended to read as follows:

 1.  If,  within [fourteen business days] SIX MONTHS following the sale
 of an animal subject to this article or receipt of  the  written  notice
 required  by section seven hundred fifty-four of this article, whichever
 occurred last, a veterinarian of the consumer's choosing, licensed by  a
 state  certifies  such animal to be unfit for purchase due to illness, a
 congenital malformation  which  adversely  affects  the  health  of  the
 animal,  or  the  presence  of  symptoms  of  a contagious or infectious
 disease, the pet dealer shall afford the consumer the  right  to  choose
 one of the following options:

 (a)  The  right  to  return  the  animal  and  receive a refund of the
 purchase price including sales  tax,  and  reasonable  veterinary  costs
 directly  related to the veterinarian's certification that the animal is
 unfit for purchase pursuant to this section AND FOR SUCH  VETERINARIAN'S
 TREATMENT  OF  THE  ANIMAL FOR THE CONDITION THAT MAKES THE ANIMAL UNFIT
 FOR PURCHASE;
 (b) The right to return the animal and to receive an  exchange  animal
 of  the consumer's choice of equivalent value, and reasonable veterinary
 costs directly related to  the  veterinarian's  certification  that  the
 animal  is  unfit  for  purchase  pursuant  to this section AND FOR SUCH
 VETERINARIAN'S TREATMENT OF THE ANIMAL FOR THE CONDITION THAT MAKES  THE
 ANIMAL UNFIT FOR PURCHASE; or
 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD11969-01-1
 
       S. 6093                             2
 (c) The right to retain the animal and to receive reimbursement from a
 pet  dealer  for veterinary services from a licensed veterinarian of the
 consumer's choosing, for the purpose of curing or attempting to cure the
 animal DURING THE LIFETIME OF SUCH ANIMAL.   [The  reasonable  value  of
 reimbursable  services rendered to cure or attempting to cure the animal
 shall not exceed the purchase price of the animal.] The  value  of  such
 services  is  reasonable  if comparable to the value of similar services
 rendered by other licensed veterinarians in proximity  to  the  treating
 veterinarian. [Such reimbursement shall not include the costs of initial
 veterinary  examination fees and diagnostic fees not directly related to
 the veterinarian's certification that the animal is unfit  for  purchase
 pursuant to this section.]
 The  commissioner  by  regulations shall prescribe a form for, and the
 content of, the certification that an  animal  is  unfit  for  purchase,
 which  shall be provided by an examining veterinarian to a consumer upon
 the examination of an animal which is subject to the provisions of  this
 section.  Such  form  shall  include, but not be limited to, information
 which identifies the type of animal, the owner, the date  and  diagnosis
 of  the animal, the treatment recommended if any, and an estimate or the
 actual cost of such treatment. Such form shall also include  the  notice
 prescribed in section seven hundred forty-three of this article.
 The  commissioner  by  regulations  shall  prescribe information which
 shall be provided in writing by the pet dealer to the consumer upon  the
 sale  of  the animal. Such information shall include, but not be limited
 to, a description, including breed of the animal, the date of  purchase,
 the  name,  address and telephone number of the consumer, and the amount
 of the purchase. The pet dealer shall certify such information by  sign
 ing the document in which it is contained.
 

S  2.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
 have become a law and shall apply to dogs and cats purchased from a  pet
 dealer on or after such effective date.

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