S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  10330

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             March 18, 2010
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. TITONE -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Agriculture

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  agriculture and markets law, in relation to the
  microchipping of dogs and the creation of a registry of dogs

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 109 of the agri-
culture and markets law, as amended by chapter 645 of the laws of  1988,
is amended to read as follows:
  (c)  The  application  shall state the sex, actual or approximate age,
breed, color, and official identification number of the dog,  and  other
identification  marks,  if any, and the name, address, telephone number,
county and town, city or village of residence  of  the  owner  AND  SUCH
INFORMATION  SHALL  BE  TRANSMITTED  TO THE REGISTRY ON DOGS PURSUANT TO
SECTION ONE HUNDRED TWELVE-B OF THIS ARTICLE.
  S 2. The agriculture and markets law is  amended  by  adding  two  new
sections 112-a and 112-b to read as follows:
  S  112-A.  MICROCHIPPING  OF  DOGS. 1. ANY PERSON WHO OWNS A DOG SHALL
ENSURE THAT BY THE AGE OF FOUR MONTHS  SUCH  DOG  IS  IMPLANTED  WITH  A
SPECIAL COMPUTER CHIP DESIGNED TO HOLD INFORMATION RELATING TO IDENTIFI-
CATION  OF  THE  OWNER OR CUSTODIAN OF SUCH DOG, CONTACT INFORMATION AND
SUCH DOG'S DESCRIPTION AND BREED  AND  ANY  OTHER  INFORMATION  REQUIRED
PURSUANT  TO  SECTION ONE HUNDRED NINE OF THIS ARTICLE. SUCH INFORMATION
SHALL BE TRANSMITTED INTO THE  STATE  REGISTRY  ON  DOGS  AND  SHALL  BE
COMPATIBLE  WITH A MICROCHIP SCANNER OPERATED BY THE COMMISSIONER PURSU-
ANT TO SECTION ONE HUNDRED TWELVE-B OF THIS ARTICLE.
  2. WHENEVER ANY DOG IS LICENSED PURSUANT TO SECTION ONE HUNDRED TWELVE
OF THIS ARTICLE, SUCH LICENSING CONTACT INFORMATION SHALL BE TRANSMITTED
TO THE REGISTRY OF DOGS AND PLACED ON THE MICROCHIP IN A  METHOD  ESTAB-
LISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER.
  S 112-B. REGISTRY OF DOGS. 1. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL ESTABLISH A STATE
REGISTRY  WHICH SHALL CONTAIN IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION RELATING TO ALL
ANIMALS LICENSED PURSUANT TO SECTIONS  ONE  HUNDRED  NINE,  ONE  HUNDRED
TWELVE AND ONE HUNDRED TWELVE-A OF THIS ARTICLE.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD00090-01-9

A. 10330                            2

  2.  SUCH REGISTRY SHALL BE AVAILABLE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY AND SHALL
BE SIMILAR TO ANY NATIONAL REGISTRY IN EXISTENCE.  A  MICROCHIP  SCANNER
SHALL BE USED TO DETECT THE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER KEPT ON THE CHIP.
  3.  IT  SHALL  BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OWNER OR CUSTODIAN OF SUCH
DOG TO CHANGE WITH THE REGISTRY ANY IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION  RELATING
TO SUCH OWNER OR CUSTODIAN.
  S  3. Subdivision 1 of section 119 of the agriculture and markets law,
as added by chapter 220 of the laws of 1978, paragraph (c) as amended by
chapter 404 of the laws of 1986, paragraph (g) as amended and  paragraph
(h)  as  added by chapter 263 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as
follows:
  1. It shall be a violation, punishable as provided in subdivision  two
of this section, for:
  (a) any owner to fail to license any dog;
  (b)  any  owner to fail to have any dog identified as required by this
article;
  (c) any person to knowingly affix to any dog  any  false  or  improper
identification  tag,  special  identification tag for identifying guide,
service or hearing dogs or purebred license tag;
  (f) any owner or custodian of any dog to fail to confine, restrain  or
present such dog for any lawful purpose pursuant to this article;
  (g)  any  person to furnish any false or misleading information on any
form required to be filed with  any  municipality  or  the  commissioner
pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  this article or rules and regulations
promulgated pursuant thereto;
  (h) the owner or custodian of any dog to fail to  exercise  due  dili-
gence  in  handling  his  or  her dog if the handling results in harm to
another dog that is a guide, hearing or service dog;
  (I) THE OWNER OR CUSTODIAN OF ANY DOG TO FAIL TO MICROCHIP SUCH DOG.
  S 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal  of  any  rule  or  regulation
necessary  for  the implementation of this act on its effective date are
authorized and directed to be made  and  completed  on  or  before  such
effective date.