NY A10041

Prohibits any person from knowingly possessing, harboring, selling, bartering, transferring, exchanging, or importing wild animals for use as pets in New York State, with exceptions as provided in the law.

Makes it illegal to intentionally release or set at-large any wild animal that is authorized to be kept as a pet, with each escape during a twelve-month period subject to separate penalties.

Requires owners of wild animals to report any release to local police and animal control immediately upon discovery, and mandates that owners bear all costs associated with seizing, transferring, recapturing, or euthanizing escaped animals.

Establishes penalties of up to $500 for first offenses and up to $1,000 for second and subsequent offenses related to breeding, possessing, or releasing wild animals in violation of the law.

Authorizes the Department of Environmental Conservation, law enforcement, animal control officers, and animal cruelty societies to enforce these provisions and seize wild animals in violation, with seized animals transferred to wildlife sanctuaries, zoological facilities, or humanely euthanized.