S 470: Enacts "Kirby and Quigley's Law"; expands the definition of aggravated cruelty to animals to include harm to a companion animal during the commission of a felony.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 470 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. TEDISCO, ADDABBO, HELMING, O'MARA, SANDERS, SEPULVE- DA, WEIK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to expand- ing the definition of aggravated cruelty to animals to include harm to animals during the commission of a felony The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Kirby and 2 Quigley's Law". 3 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 353-a of the agriculture and markets 4 law, as added by chapter 118 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as 5 follows: 6 1. A person is guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals when[,]: either 7 (a) with no justifiable purpose, [he or she] such person intentionally 8 kills or intentionally causes serious physical injury, as defined in 9 subdivision twenty-nine of section one hundred eight of this chapter, to 10 a companion animal with aggravated cruelty[.]; or 11 (b) in the course of commission of a felony, or of immediate flight 12 therefrom, such person causes intentional physical injury, as defined in 13 subdivision twenty-eight of section one hundred eight of this chapter, 14 or death to a companion animal. 15 For purposes of this section, "aggravated cruelty" shall mean conduct 16 which: (i) is intended to cause extreme physical pain; or (ii) is done 17 or carried out in an especially depraved or sadistic manner. 18 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01826-01-5