§ 809 — Instruction in the humane treatment of animals

§ 809. Instruction in the humane treatment of animals. 1. The officer,\nboard or commission authorized or required to prescribe courses of\ninstruction shall cause instruction to be given in every elementary\nschool under state control or supported wholly or partly by public money\nof the state, in the humane treatment and protection of animals and the\nimportance of the part they play in the economy of nature as well as the\nnecessity of controlling the proliferation of animals which are\nsubsequently abandoned and caused to suffer extreme cruelty. Such\ninstruction shall be for such period of time during each school year as\nthe board of regents may prescribe and may be joined with work in\nliterature, reading, language, nature study or ethnology. Such weekly\ninstruction may be divided into two or more periods. A school district\nshall not be entitled to participate in the public school money on\naccount of any school or the attendance at any school subject to the\nprovisions of this section, if the instruction required hereby is not\ngiven therein.\n 2. Study and care of live animals. Any school which cares for or uses\nanimals for study shall ensure that each animal in such school be\nafforded the following: appropriate quarters; sufficient space for the\nnormal behavior and postural requirements of the species; proper\nventilation, lighting, and temperature control; adequate food and clean\ndrinking water; and quarters which shall be cleaned on a regular basis\nand located in an area where undue stress and disturbance are minimized.\n 3. Application. The provisions of this section shall not be construed\nto prohibit or constrain vocational instruction in the normal practice\nof animal husbandry, or prohibit or constrain instruction in\nenvironmental education activities as established by the department of\nenvironmental conservation.\n 4. Dissection of animals. Any student expressing a moral or religious\nobjection to the performance or witnessing of the dissection of an\nanimal, either wholly or in part, shall be provided the opportunity to\nundertake and complete an alternative project that shall be approved by\nsuch student's teacher; provided, however, that such objection is\nsubstantiated in writing by the student's parent or legal guardian.\nStudents who perform alternative projects who do not perform or witness\nthe dissection of animals shall not be penalized. The board of education\nor trustees of a school district shall develop a policy to give\nreasonable notice to all students enrolled in a course that includes the\ndissection of an animal and students' parents or legal guardians about\ntheir rights under this subdivision. Such notice shall be made available\nupon request at the school and distributed to parents and students\nenrolled in a course that includes dissection at least once at the\nbeginning of the school year.\n 5. Treatment of live vertebrate animals. a. Except as provided for in\nthis subdivision, no school district, school principal, administrator,\nor teacher shall require or permit the performance of a lesson or\nexperimental study on a live vertebrate animal in any such school or\nduring any activity conducted under the auspices of such school whether\nor not the activity takes place on the premises of such school where\nsuch lesson or experimental study employs: (i) micro-organisms which\ncause disease in humans or animals, (ii) ionizing radiation, (iii) known\ncancer producing agents, (iv) chemicals at toxic levels, (v) drugs\nproducing pain or deformity, (vi) severe extremes of temperature, (vii)\nelectric or other shock, (viii) excessive noise, (ix) noxious fumes, (x)\nexercise to exhaustion, (xi) overcrowding, (xii) paralysis by muscle\nrelaxants or other means, (xiii) deprivation or excess of food, water or\nother essential nutrients, (xiv) surgery or other invasive procedures,\n(xv) other extreme stimuli, or (xvi) termination of life.\n b. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this section, the\ncommissioner may, upon the submission of a written program plan, issue\nto such school a written waiver of such restrictions for students\nsubject to the following provisions: (i) the student shall be in grade\nten, eleven, or twelve; and (ii) the student shall be under the\nsupervision of one or more teachers certified in science; and (iii) the\nstudent shall be pursuing an accelerated course of study in the sciences\nas defined by the commissioner in preparation for taking a state or\nnational advanced placement examination. The commissioner shall issue a\nwaiver of such restrictions for any teacher certified in science\ninstructing such student. The written program plan shall include, but\nnot be limited to: (i) the educational basis for requesting a waiver;\n(ii) the objective of the lesson or experiment; (iii) the methods and\ntechniques to be used; and (iv) any other information required by the\ncommissioner.\n 6. Report. On or before the first day of January next succeeding the\neffective date of this amended section, the commissioner shall annually\nsubmit a report to the governor and the legislature which shall include,\nbut not be limited to, the number of written program plan proposals\nsubmitted by schools and the number of such proposals subsequently\napproved by the commissioner. In those cases where a program plan\nproposal has been approved by the commissioner, such plan shall be\nappended to and become a part of the commissioner's annual report.\n