A 5815: Relates to orders of protection with respect to companion animals; provides further protection for pets by authorizing the court to order a party to either relinquish a pet or to refrain from any contact with a pet.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5815 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 20, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the family court act, the criminal procedure law and the domestic relations law, in relation to an order of protection with respect to companion animals The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 352.3 of the family court act, as 2 amended by chapter 261 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 (1) Upon the issuance of an order pursuant to section 315.3 or the 5 entry of an order of disposition pursuant to section 352.2, a court may 6 enter an order of protection against any respondent for good cause 7 shown. The order may require that the respondent: (a) stay away from the 8 home, school, business or place of employment of the victims of the 9 alleged offense; or (b) refrain from harassing, intimidating, threaten- 10 ing or otherwise interfering with the victim or victims of the alleged 11 offense and such members of the family or household of such victim or 12 victims as shall be specifically named by the court in such order; or 13 (c) refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justifica- 14 tion, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, possessed, 15 leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] petitioner 16 or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's or 17 respondent's household; or (d) refrain from remotely controlling any 18 connected devices affecting the home, vehicle or property of the person 19 protected by the order. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 20 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 21 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 22 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 23 respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal and 24 forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harming, or EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00650-01-5 
 A. 5815 2 1 otherwise disposing of the animal. "Companion animal", as used in this 2 subdivision, shall have the same meaning as in subdivision five of 3 section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets law. 4 "Connected device", as used in this subdivision, shall mean any device, 5 or other physical object that is capable of connecting to the internet, 6 directly or indirectly, and that is assigned an internet protocol 7 address or bluetooth address. 8 § 2. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (h) of section 446 of the family court 9 act, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read 10 as follows: 11 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 12 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 13 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 14 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 15 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 16 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 17 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 18 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 19 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 20 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 21 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 22 § 3. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (i) of section 551 of the family court 23 act, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read 24 as follows: 25 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 26 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 27 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 28 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 29 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 30 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 31 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 32 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 33 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 34 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 35 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 36 § 4. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (i) of section 656 of the family court 37 act, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read 38 as follows: 39 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 40 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 41 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner or a minor child 42 residing in the petitioner's or respondent's household. Such order may 43 also grant the petitioner the exclusive care, custody or control of any 44 animal that is owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, 45 the respondent or a minor child residing in the residence or household 46 of the petitioner or the respondent, and order the respondent to stay 47 away from the animal and forbid the respondent from taking, trans- 48 ferring, concealing, harming, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 49 § 5. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (h) of section 759 of the family court 50 act, as amended by chapter 261 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read 51 as follows: 52 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 53 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 54 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 55 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 56 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 
 A. 5815 3 1 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 2 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 3 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 4 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 5 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 6 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 7 § 6. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (i) of section 842 of the family court 8 act, as amended by chapter 335 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read 9 as follows: 10 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 11 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 12 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner or a minor child 13 residing in the petitioner's or respondent's household. Such order may 14 also grant the petitioner the exclusive care, custody or control of any 15 animal that is owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, 16 the respondent or a minor child residing in the residence or household 17 of the petitioner or the respondent, and order the respondent to stay 18 away from the animal and forbid the respondent from taking, trans- 19 ferring, concealing, harming, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 20 § 7. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 1056 21 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2013, 22 is amended to read as follows: 23 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 24 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 25 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 26 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 27 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 28 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 29 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 30 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 31 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 32 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 33 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 34 § 8. Clause (A) of subparagraph 6 of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of 35 section 530.12 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 526 36 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows: 37 (A) to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 38 fication, any companion animal the defendant knows to be owned, 39 possessed, leased, kept or held by the victim or a minor child residing 40 in the victim's or defendant's household. Such order may also grant the 41 victim the exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is 42 owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by the victim, the defendant or a 43 minor child residing in the residence or household of the victim or the 44 defendant, and order the defendant to stay away from the animal and 45 forbid the defendant from taking, transferring, concealing, harming, or 46 otherwise disposing of the animal. 47 § 9. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 48 530.13 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 261 of the 49 laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows: 50 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 51 fication, any companion animal the defendant knows to be owned, 52 possessed, leased, kept or held by such victim or victims or a minor 53 child residing in such victim's or victims' household. Such order may 54 also grant the victim the exclusive care, custody or control of any 55 animal that is owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by the victim, the 56 defendant or a minor child residing in the residence or household of the 
 A. 5815 4 1 victim or the defendant, and order the defendant to stay away from the 2 animal and forbid the defendant from taking, transferring, concealing, 3 harming, or otherwise disposing of the animal. 4 § 10. Subparagraph 7 of paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 240 of 5 the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 6 2013, is amended to read as follows: 7 (7) to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 8 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 9 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 10 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 11 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 12 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 13 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 14 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 15 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 16 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 17 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. "Companion animal," as used 18 in this section, shall have the same meaning as in subdivision five of 19 section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets law; 20 § 11. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 252 of the domestic 21 relations law, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2013, is amended 22 to read as follows: 23 (g) to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without justi- 24 fication, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, 25 possessed, leased, kept or held by the [person protected by the order] 26 petitioner or a minor child residing in [such person's] the petitioner's 27 or respondent's household. Such order may also grant the petitioner the 28 exclusive care, custody or control of any animal that is owned, 29 possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner, the respondent or a 30 minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or 31 the respondent, and order the respondent to stay away from the animal 32 and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, concealing, harm- 33 ing, or otherwise disposing of the animal. "Companion animal," as used 34 in this section, shall have the same meaning as in subdivision five of 35 section three hundred fifty of the agriculture and markets law; 36 § 12. This act shall take effect immediately.