§ 399-AA — Prohibition of the selling of fur, hair, skin or flesh of a dog or cat

§ 399-aa. Prohibition of the selling of fur, hair, skin or flesh of a\ndog or cat. 1. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, partnership or\ncorporation to knowingly import, sell, offer for sale, manufacture,\ndistribute, transport or otherwise market or trade in the fur, hair,\nskin or flesh of a domesticated dog (canis familiaris) or domesticated\ncat (felis catus or domesticus), whether domestically raised or imported\nfrom another country, or any product or item containing or comprised of\nthe fur, hair, skin or flesh of a dog or cat. As used in this section\nthe term "domesticated dog or cat" shall not mean or include coyote\n(ranis latrans), fox (vulpes volpes, vulpes cinereoargenteus), lynx\n(felis lynx) or bobcat (felis rufus).\n 2. Manufacturers or suppliers shall provide certification to each\nretailer that any fur, hair, skin or flesh contained in such items is\nnot derived from domesticated dog or domesticated cat.\n 3. The state commissioner of agriculture and markets shall establish a\nstandard for the certification required by the provisions of subdivision\ntwo of this section on the effective date of this section.\n 4. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty\nof up to one thousand dollars for an individual and up to five thousand\ndollars for a corporation for the first violation. Any subsequent\nviolation shall be punishable by a civil penalty of up to twenty-five\nthousand dollars.\n 5. Any civil penalties collected pursuant to this section of law are\npayable to the animal population control fund established pursuant to\nsection ninety-seven-xx of the state finance law.\n 6. (a) No provision of this section shall be construed to prohibit or\ninterfere with any properly conducted scientific tests, experiments or\ninvestigations involving the use of dog or cat fur or flesh, performed\nor conducted in laboratories or institutions, which are approved for\nthese purposes by the state commissioner of health in accordance with\nsection three hundred fifty-three of the agriculture and markets law.\n (b) No provision of this section shall be construed to prohibit any\nperson, firm, partnership or corporation from importing, selling,\noffering for sale, manufacturing, distributing, transporting, or\notherwise marketing or trading in the fur, hair, skin, or flesh of a\ndomesticated dog or cat for the purposes of conducting scientific tests,\nexperiments or investigations that are to be performed or conducted in\nlaboratories or institutions, which are approved for these purposes by\nthe state commissioner of health in accordance with section three\nhundred fifty-three of the agriculture and markets law.\n