COMPANION ANIMALS – New York Appellate Digest https://www.newyorkappellatedigest.com Sun, 06 Dec 2020 04:47:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://www.newyorkappellatedigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Favicon-Blue-01-36x36.png COMPANION ANIMALS – New York Appellate Digest https://www.newyorkappellatedigest.com 32 32 171315692 Horse Deemed a “Companion Animal”/Aggravated Cruelty to Animals Conviction Upheld https://www.newyorkappellatedigest.com/2013/12/19/horse-deemed-a-companion-animal-aggravated-cruelty-to-animals-conviction-upheld/ Thu, 19 Dec 2013 19:27:44 +0000 http://newyorkappellatedigest.com/?p=14100 The Third Department affirmed defendant’s convictions, which stemmed from the killing of a horse.  The court determined the horse was a “companion animal” within the meaning of the Agricultural and Markets Law and, therefore, the elements of aggravated cruelty to animals were proven:

…[D]efendant claims that the charge of aggravated cruelty to animals was jurisdictionally defective for failure to allege a material element of the crime, arguing that the horse was not a “companion animal” (Agricultural and Markets Law § 353a [1]…).  However, horses are excluded from the statutory definition of companion animals only when they are “‘[f]arm animal[s]’ . . . raised for commercial or subsistence purposes” (Agricultural and Markets Law § 350 [4]).  Any domesticated animal, including a horse, may be a companion animal where, as here, it is not kept for such purposes and is “normally maintained in or near the household of the owner or person who cares for [it]” (Agricultural and Markets Law § 350 [5] ….  Likewise, there was no jurisdictional defect in the charge of criminal mischief in the second degree by intentionally damaging the property of another, as a companion animal is property (see Penal Law § 145.10…). People v Lohnes, 104483, 3rd Dept 12-19-13

 

]]> 14100