Recently, New York Governor Kathy Hochu signed a bill making certain hunting competitions illegal. This new law contains important provisions requested by the AKC to protect training and performance events.
Summary:
As stated in a previous alert, Senate Bill 4099 and its companion Assembly Bill 2917 make it unlawful and establish a civil penalty for anyone to organize, sponsor, or participate in any competition with the object of “taking or hunting wildlife for prizes or other inducement, or for entertainment.”
These bills had been introduced for the past several sessions, and AKC Government Relations worked with the sponsors to secure amendments exempting dog training areas, field trials, or “any similar canine performance events.” Other sportsmen groups were successful in obtaining exemptions for hunting competitions for deer, turkey, or bear.
The new law goes into effect on November 1, 2024.
The New York legislative session convenes tomorrow, January 3, 2024. AKC Government Relations continues to closely monitor all bills in New York with the potential to impact dog owners. For more information, contact AKC GR at doglaw@akc.org.