§ 374. Humane destruction or other disposition of animals lost,\nstrayed, homeless, abandoned or improperly confined or kept. 1. Any\nagent or officer of any duly incorporated humane society, a duly\nincorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, any dog\ncontrol officer, or any police officer, may lawfully cause to be\nhumanely destroyed (by means provided for in paragraph a of subdivision\nthree of this section) any animal found abandoned and not properly cared\nfor, or any lost, strayed, homeless or unwanted animal, if upon\nexamination a licensed veterinarian shall certify in writing, or if two\nreputable citizens called upon by such agent, officer or police officer\nto view the same in his or her presence find that the animal is so\nmaimed, diseased, disabled, or infirm so as to be unfit for any useful\npurpose and that humane euthanasia is warranted; or after such agent,\nofficer or police officer has obtained in writing from the owner of such\nanimal his or her consent to such destruction.\n 2. In the absence of such findings or certification, a duly\nincorporated humane society, a duly incorporated society for the\nprevention of cruelty to animals, or any pound maintained by or under\ncontract or agreement with any county, city, town or village may after\nfive days make available for adoption or have humanely destroyed in\naccordance with the provisions of this section and subject to\nsubdivisions six, eight and nine of section one hundred seventeen of\nthis chapter, any animal of which possession is taken as provided for in\nthe preceding section, unless the same is earlier redeemed by its owner.\nNotwithstanding the redemption periods set forth above in this\nsubdivision, any municipality may establish the duration of such periods\nby local law or ordinance for any cat whose owner cannot be identified\nby a collar, tag, microchip, tattoo or other identifying mark, provided\nthat no such period shall be less than three days, and provided further\nthat such cat be made available solely for the purposes of adoption and\nreleased to an adoptive owner following an examination by a\nduly-licensed veterinarian, the details of which shall be provided to\nthe adoptive owner.\n 3. a. Except as provided in subdivision four of this section,\neuthanasia of animals pursuant to this section shall be accomplished\nsolely by means of injection of sodium pentobarbital or sodium\npentobarbital solution administered by a certified euthanasia\ntechnician, a licensed veterinarian or a licensed veterinary technician.\nEuthanasia by intracardiac injection of sodium pentobarbital or sodium\npentobarbital solution shall be performed only upon animals that are\nheavily sedated, anesthetized, or comatose. However, only a licensed\nveterinarian may perform euthanasia by intracardiac injection of sodium\npentobarbital or sodium pentobarbital solution upon animals that are not\nheavily sedated, anesthetized or comatose and only when such licensed\nveterinarian determines that such intracardiac injection is the most\nhumane option available. Whenever a cardiac injection of sodium\npentobarbital or sodium pentobarbital solution is administered by a\nlicensed veterinarian upon an animal that is not heavily sedated,\nanesthetized or comatose, such veterinarian must document, in writing,\nthe administration of such injection and the reason for its\nadministration. Such documentation shall be retained for at least three\nyears. Under no circumstances shall intracardiac injection be performed\non animals that are not heavily sedated, anesthetized or comatose where\nsuch animals are under the care of any duly incorporated society for the\nprevention of cruelty to animals, animal shelter, humane society or\npound.\n b. No animal shall be left unattended between the time that the\neuthanasia procedure begins and the time when death is confirmed. The\nbody of a euthanized animal shall not be disposed of in any manner until\ndeath is confi
‹ Prev All New York sections Next ›
Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.