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August 2011
NYS Governor Signs Into Law Measure To Increase Criminal Penalties For Animal Fighting
This bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn) and co-sponsored by Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R,C,I-Schenectady-Saratoga), was a main focus of the first ever New York State Animal Advocacy Day sponsored by Assemblyman Tedisco, which was held on June 1st, and drew over 500 animal advocates to Albany to lobby for stronger animal cruelty laws.
"This goes to show that the most powerful voices in our representative democracy are not the elected officials but the people we represent. Animal advocates, pet owners and New Yorkers from across the state spoke and our elected officials listened – a bill to protect animals from the barbaric cruelty of animal fighting is now law," said Tedisco, who has two dogs and two cats of his own.
The bill increases penalties for spectators at animal fighting events to a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in jail and a $500 fine for the first offense and up to a year in jail and $1,000 fine for a second offense.
In 1999, Tedisco led a statewide effort that helped to collect over 118,000 signatures to pass the landmark Buster's Law creating the felony category of "aggravated cruelty to animals," punishable by up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Buster's Law was named after an 18-month-old tabby cat that had been doused with kerosene and burned to death by a Schenectady teen.
"Our next step is to require anyone convicted of Buster's Law to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and be placed on a registry of animal abusers." said Tedisco.
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