Enacts "Charlemagne's Law; authorizes a consumer to seek reimbursement for treatment for a unfit cat or dog within 6 months of the purchase of such animal from a pet dealer; provides that, the consumer shall be entitled to reimbursement for all veterinary services related to the condition of the cat or dog which made it unfit for purchase; eliminates the right of a consumer to return for a refund, or return and exchange such unfit cat or dog.

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S2570-2013 Actions

• Mar 25, 2013: PRINT NUMBER 2570A
• Mar 25, 2013: AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO CONSUMER PROTECTION
• Jan 22, 2013: REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION

S2570-2013 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S2570

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 - states that this act shall be known and cited as
"Charlemagne's Law".

Section two - amends Section 1. Subdivision I 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.

Section three - this act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after is
shall have become a law and shall apply to dogs and cats purchased
from a pet dealer on or after such effective date.

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 force-bred 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
110t covered under the 1966 federal Animal Welfare Act (A W A) 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:
6/12/12 Print Number 6093B

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None to the state.

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

S2570-2013 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                    2570

                         2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                              January 22, 2013
                                 ___________

  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.  Short title. This act shall be known and may be  cited  as
  "Charlemagne's law".
    S  2.    Subdivision  1 of section 753 of the general business law, as
  added by chapter 431 of the laws of 1988, and such section as renumbered
  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, AND NOTWITHSTANDING THE PRESENCE OF  EVIDENCE  INDICATING  THAT
  THE  CONSUMER  MAY  HAVE  MISTREATED  THE ANIMAL IN ANY MANNER OR IF THE
  ANIMAL HAS BEEN RETURNED FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN A CONDITION  DESCRIBED
  IN  THIS  SUBDIVISION 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;

   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD07297-01-3

 S. 2570                             2

    (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
    (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 3. 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.