BILL NUMBER:  S611

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in
relation to adding certain animal fighting conduct as a designated
offense for an eavesdropping or video surveillance warrant

 PURPOSE :

This legislation would define animal fighting as a designated offense
that qualifies for an electronic eavesdropping or video surveillance
warrant.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1. This bill amends criminal procedure law section 700.05
subdivision 8 to include section 351 of the agriculture and markets
law as a designated offense for an eavesdropping or video surveillance
warrant.

Section 2. Effective date.

 EXISTING LAW:

 JUSTIFICATION :

Animal fighting fuels some of the most violent enterprises which
              

corrupt our neighborhoods. Apart from the well-established social
science link between violence against animals and violence against
people, the New York law enforcement community has seen first-hand
that vigorous investigation and prosecution of animal fighting exposes
gang networks, narcotics rings, weapons trafficking activity, and
other sophisticated and violent criminal enterprises.

Animal fighting is the pitting of two dogs against each other for
amusement or gain. It can also be the pitting of a dog against another
type of animal (even a human). While money need not be exchanged to
qualify the act as illegal, there is indeed a significant financial
machine behind this disgusting "blood sport." According to some
estimates, dogfighting is a billion-dollar underground economy - just
in the United States. Some studies put the United States' share of
this enterprise at a full third of the global dogfighting economy.
Money is not only made by abhorrent wagers on the outcomes of fights,
but also through the illicit breeding, marketing, trading, and sale of
dogs. Professional fighters will market the bloodlines of their
winners, make money off of forced breeding sessions (whether
successful or not), and sell litters as fast as they can be produced.
The underground industry is such that, besides the fighters, there are
individuals who specialize as "promoters" of fights, as breeders, as
trainers, and as sellers.  Because the activity must go undetected,
there is also a strong subversive demand for medications, specialized
equipment, veterinary services, and "dark web" communication platforms
(unregistered Internet sites, invisible to public view). Another awful
truth of this already-atrocious enterprise is that fighters will
sometimes steal animals from their surrounding community - small dogs
or cats - to use for bait or training for their kennels.

This is not a distant problem. It is happening in virtually every
corner of the state. As law enforcement has grown more attuned to its
detection, fighting rings have been targeted and brought down, and,
along with those rings, law enforcement has seized guns and heroin,
uncovered domestic abuse and child abuse, and rescued countless dogs
from a lifetime of torture.

However, the methodologies of detection are still lacking - for no
justifiable purpose besides oversight. Despite being an inherently
"social" activity (i.e. more than one defendant must be involved),
animal fighting is currently not eligible for a warrant to conduct
electronic surveillance. This bill would place animal fighting on a
list of crimes eligible to seek a warrant to conduct electronic
eavesdropping. By including animal fighting as an eligible offense,
law enforcement and prosecutors will gain valuable tools in combating
this heinous category of crime.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

Died in Codes 2016.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.