BILL NUMBER: S609

SPONSOR: BOYLE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to adding animal fighting as
a criminal act when referring to enterprise corruption

 
PURPOSE:

This legislation would define animal fighting as a criminal act when
referring to enterprise corruption.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. This bill amends penal law section 460.10 subdivision 1 to
include subdivision 2 of section 351 of the agriculture and markets law
as a criminal act when referring to enterprise corruption.

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 inves-
tigation 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 amuse-
ment 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, dog
fighting 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 dog fighting 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 "promo-
ters" 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 an enterprise crime eligible-offense.
This bill will allow animal fighting charges to be eligible for an
enterprise corruption charge in applicable circumstance. 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:

Passed Senate 2018.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.