S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3849
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
February 20, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- 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 and the administrative
code of the city of New York, in relation to the inspection of certain
horse stables in cities of one million or more
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new
2 section 359-b to read as follows:
3 S 359-B. INSPECTION OF CERTAIN HORSE STABLES IN CITIES OF ONE MILLION
4 OR MORE. 1. THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY ONLY TO:
5 (A) HORSE STABLES IN CITIES HAVING A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR
6 MORE; AND
7 (B) HORSE STABLES FOR RIDING HORSES, THE BOARDING OF HORSES OR FOR
8 HORSES USED FOR RIDING LESSONS IN CITIES HAVING A POPULATION OF ONE
9 MILLION OR MORE.
10 2. NO PROVISION OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE DEEMED TO APPLY TO CARRIAGE
11 HORSES OR ANY HORSE THAT IS SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE RACING,
12 PARI-MUTUEL WAGERING AND BREEDING LAW.
13 3. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL, AT A MINIMUM, MAKE YEARLY INSPECTIONS OF
14 HORSE STABLES TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE.
15 4. THE COMMISSIONER IS AUTHORIZED TO PROMULGATE SUCH RULES AND REGU-
16 LATIONS AS HE OR SHE DEEMS NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS
17 SECTION.
18 5. VIOLATION OF ANY PROVISION OF THIS SECTION OR ANY RULE OR REGU-
19 LATION PROMULGATED PURSUANT THERETO SHALL BE A CIVIL OFFENSE PUNISHABLE
20 BY A FINE OF NOT LESS THAN ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS NOR MORE THAN ONE THOU-
21 SAND DOLLARS.
22 S 2. Section 17-330 of the administrative code of the city of New
23 York, as added by local law number 2 of the city of New York for the
24 year 1994, subdivisions b, c, g, l, n and p as amended and subdivisions
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01524-01-5
S. 3849 2
1 q and r as added by local law number 10 of the city of New York for the
2 year 2010, is amended to read as follows:
3 S 17-330 Regulations. a. The commissioner, with the advice of the
4 advisory board as hereinafter established AND SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS
5 OF SECTION THREE HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE-B OF THE AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS
6 LAW, shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry out the
7 provisions of this subchapter and to promote the health, safety and well
8 being of the horses which are required to be licensed hereunder and of
9 members of the public who hire such horses.
10 b. 1. Horses shall not be left untethered or unattended except when
11 confined in a stable or other enclosure. When tethered, all horses shall
12 be secured by the use of a rope attached to the halter, not to the bit
13 or bridle.
14 2. Horse bridles and halters shall be used on carriage horses at all
15 times when operating a carriage.
16 c. Standing stalls for carriage horses shall be sixty square feet or
17 larger, with a minimum width of seven feet, and shall be configured to
18 permit a carriage horse to turn around and safely lay down within the
19 stall. Horses shall be un-tied when stabled. A halter shall be on the
20 horse or hung outside each stall at all times.
21 d. Horses shall be adequately quartered. Stables and stalls shall be
22 clean and dry and sufficient bedding of straw, shavings or other suit-
23 able materials shall be furnished and changed as often as necessary to
24 maintain them in a clean and dry condition. Adequate heating and venti-
25 lation shall be maintained in stables as prescribed by the [commission-
26 er] STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS.
27 e. Owners shall insure that appropriate and sufficient food and drink-
28 ing water are available for each horse and that while working each horse
29 is permitted to eat and drink at reasonable intervals.
30 f. Owners shall not allow a horse to be worked on a public highway,
31 path or street during adverse weather or other dangerous conditions
32 which are a threat to the health or safety of the horse. A horse being
33 worked when such conditions develop shall be immediately returned to the
34 stable by the most direct route.
35 g. 1. Carriage horses shall not be at work for more than nine hours in
36 any continuous twenty-four hour period. Riding horses shall not be at
37 work for more than eight hours in any continuous twenty-four hour peri-
38 od. Rest periods for carriage horses and riding horses shall be of such
39 duration and at such intervals as the commissioner shall prescribe, but
40 rest periods for carriage horses shall in no event be for less than
41 fifteen minutes after each two hour working period, and the time of such
42 rest period shall be included in calculating the number of hours the
43 horse has worked in any twenty-four hour period. During such rest peri-
44 ods, the person in charge of such carriage horses shall make fresh water
45 available to the horse.
46 2. Carriage horses shall receive no less than five weeks of vacation
47 or furlough every twelve months at a horse stable facility which allows
48 daily access to paddock or pasture turnout. Proof of such vacation or
49 furlough shall be provided upon request to the department and/or the
50 ASPCA.
51 h. Carriage horses shall not be driven at a pace faster than a trot.
52 Riding horses may be ridden at a canter but shall not be galloped.
53 i. Horses shall be suitably trimmed or shod, and saddles, bridles,
54 bits, road harnesses and any other equipment used on or with a horse at
55 work shall be maintained and properly fitted as prescribed by regulation
56 of the commissioner.
S. 3849 3
1 j. Stables in which horses used in a rental horse business are kept
2 shall be open for inspection by authorized officers, veterinarians and
3 employees of the STATE department OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS, and any
4 persons designated by the STATE commissioner OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS
5 to enforce the provisions of this subchapter AND THE STATE AGRICULTURE
6 AND MARKETS LAW, agents of the ASPCA, police officers, and employees of
7 the department of consumer affairs.
8 k. An owner shall be jointly liable with the person to whom a horse is
9 rented for any violation of this subchapter or of any regulations
10 promulgated hereunder committed by such person if the owner had know-
11 ledge or notice of the act which gave rise to the violation at the time
12 of or prior to its occurrence or under the circumstances should have had
13 knowledge or notice of such act and did not attempt to prevent it from
14 occurring.
15 l. An owner of a rental horse business shall keep such records as the
16 commissioner of health shall prescribe including but not limited to a
17 consecutive daily record of the movements of each licensed horse includ-
18 ing the driver's name and identification number, if applicable, rider's
19 name, the horse's identification number, vehicle license plate number,
20 if applicable, time of leaving stable and time of return to stable. An
21 owner of a rental horse business shall also keep written protocols for
22 emergencies, including but not limited to primary and secondary emergen-
23 cy contact information for each horse owner and insurance company infor-
24 mation, if applicable. Such records shall be kept on the premises of the
25 stable where the horses are kept and shall be available for inspection.
26 The commissioner may, in his or her discretion, require a time clock,
27 date stamp or time stamp where such commissioner believes it is appro-
28 priate.
29 m. A horse required to be licensed pursuant to this subchapter which
30 is lame or suffers from a physical condition or illness making it
31 unsuitable for work may be ordered to be removed from work by the
32 commissioner or his or her designee or by an agent of the ASPCA or a
33 veterinarian employed or retained by such commissioner or ASPCA to
34 inspect licensed horses. A horse for which such an order has been issued
35 shall not be returned to work until it has recovered from the condition
36 which caused the issuance of the order or until such condition has
37 improved sufficiently that its return to work will not aggravate the
38 condition or otherwise endanger the health of the horse. In any proceed-
39 ing, under this section it shall be presumed that a horse which is found
40 at work within forty-eight hours after the issuance of an order of
41 removal and which is disabled by the same condition which caused such
42 order to be issued has been returned to work in violation of this
43 section. Such presumption may be rebutted by offering a certificate of a
44 veterinarian indicating suitability to return to work prior to the expi-
45 ration of the forty-eight hour period.
46 n. Every horse required to be licensed hereunder shall be examined by
47 a veterinarian prior to its use in a rental horse business, at time of
48 each license renewal, and thereafter at intervals of not less than four
49 months and not greater than eight months. The examination shall include
50 the general physical condition of the horse, its teeth, hoofs and shoes,
51 its stamina and physical ability to perform the work or duties required
52 of it, and whether it is current on vaccinations, including those for
53 rabies, Eastern/Western equine encephalitis, West Nile virus, Rhinopneu-
54 monitis virus, and tetanus, or any other vaccinations the Commissioner
55 may require by rule. The examination shall also include a record of any
56 injury, disease, or deficiency observed by the veterinarian at the time,
S. 3849 4
1 together with any prescription or humane correction or disposition of
2 the same. A signed health certificate by the examining veterinarian
3 shall be maintained at the stable premises at which such horse is
4 located and shall be displayed on the outside of [the] such horse's
5 individual stall. An original of said certificate shall be mailed by the
6 examining veterinarian to the department.
7 o. 1. Carriage horses shall not be worked whenever the air temperature
8 is 18 degrees fahrenheit or below.
9 2. Carriage horses shall not be worked whenever the air temperature is
10 90 degrees fahrenheit or above.
11 3. For purposes of this subdivision, temperatures shall be those meas-
12 ured by a state-of-the-art thermometer, as determined by the commission-
13 er, as measured by the commissioner or his or her designee at street
14 level at one of the stands designated pursuant to section 19-174 of the
15 code.
16 4. If the temperature exceeds the limits set by this subdivision
17 during the course of a particular ride, at the ride's conclusion, but no
18 later than one-half hour after the temperature exceeds these limits, the
19 operator must immediately cease working, move the horse to an area of
20 shelter, where available, rest the horse and then walk it directly to
21 its stable. All horses so returned to their stable must be unbridled and
22 unharnessed and remain at the stable for at least one hour, and there-
23 after, until such time as the weather conditions shall once again reach
24 acceptable limits.
25 5. No violation of this subdivision shall occur unless a written warn-
26 ing of violation is first issued by the authorized enforcement personnel
27 to the operator advising that the air temperature limits of this subdi-
28 vision have been exceeded and directing that the operator cease working
29 a carriage horse in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision.
30 A violation of this subdivision may be issued if an operator fails to
31 comply with the direction contained in the written warning of violation.
32 Failure to comply with such direction shall not be construed as a sepa-
33 rate violation.
34 p. Every carriage horse required to be licensed hereunder shall be
35 equipped with a manure catching device. Such devices shall be affixed or
36 attached to the carriage and shall at no time be affixed or attached to
37 the horse.
38 q. Carriage horses shall not be younger than five years at the time
39 placed into service in any rental horse business and licensed. No
40 carriage horse older than 26 years of age shall be licensed to work in a
41 rental horse business. Acceptable proof of age shall include a signed
42 letter from a licensed veterinarian stating the horse's age, a certif-
43 icate from an officially recognized national registry of horses stating
44 the horse's age, or another industry approved method of certifying age.
45 r. Owners shall insure that during the months of November through
46 April every carriage is equipped with a heavy winter horse blanket large
47 enough to cover the horse from crest of neck to top of rump. Such blan-
48 kets shall be used to cover carriage horses in cold weather. Waterproof
49 horse blankets of a lighter material shall be provided at all times to
50 cover the horse from withers to tail during periods of wet weather when
51 the air temperature is 55 degrees or below.
52 S 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
53 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.