BILL NUMBER: S6573A
SPONSOR: HINCHEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to the
recovery of a deceased dog or cat on public roads
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of the bill is to require municipal officials to make a
reasonable attempt to identify any indica of ownership on a deceased dog
or cat they may find.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill would require municipal officials to make a reasonable attempt
to identify any indica of ownership on a deceased dog or cat they may
find in the normal and ordinary course of their public employment, and
notify the owner or animal management officials of the owner's death.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Annually thousands of pets are killed in traffic in New York State.
Their bodies may be disposed of at landfills by highway departments
without any notice to the families, regardless of whether the pet has an
identifying chip or collar.
This bill will require municipal officials to make a reasonable effort
to detect the ownership of a dog or cat killed on a public road if found
in the normal course of their employment, and then make a reasonable
effort to provide notification to the owner or animal management offi-
cials concerning the animal's death.
This law will create an opportunityto bring closure to the grief and
agony felt by many families whose companion animal is "simply missing"
one day and who suffer this loss not knowing what happened to their
beloved family member.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S.9719/A.6239-A- Referred to Agriculture/ Ordered to third
reading
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall ta ke effect on the one-hundred-eightieth day after it
shall become law.