§ 410 — Establishment of animal response teams

§ 410. Establishment of animal response teams. 1. The commissioner is\nhereby authorized to establish state and county animal response teams to\nsupport the prevention of, preparedness for, response to, and recovery\nfrom emergencies and disasters affecting animals in New York state. The\ncommissioner may appoint qualified volunteers to such teams which may\ninclude appropriate state agency and specialty personnel and such other\npersonnel and volunteers he or she deems appropriate. For purposes of\nthis section, "qualified volunteer" shall mean a person who does not\nreceive compensation for his or her services, who is an active member of\nan animal response team and has either been activated by directive of\nthe commissioner or is acting in an official capacity of the animal\nresponse team pursuant to guidelines from the commissioner.\n 2. The commissioner shall be responsible for training such teams\nestablished pursuant to this section to ensure response during\nemergencies and disasters.\n 3. Individuals appointed to an animal response team shall be deemed\nvolunteer state employees for purposes of section seventeen of the\npublic officers law and section three of the workers' compensation law.\n 4. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations relating to\nthe formation, training, appointing and activation of state and county\nanimal response teams established pursuant to this article, and is\nauthorized to solicit and accept funds from any public or private source\nto help carry out the provisions of this article. Provided, however,\nthat the commissioner shall consult with state and local emergency\npersonnel relative to the activation of such animal response teams.\n