§ 399-aa. Prohibition of the selling of fur, hair, skin or flesh of a dog or cat. 1. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, partnership or corporation to knowingly import, sell, offer for sale, manufacture, distribute, transport or otherwise market or trade in the fur, hair, skin or flesh of a domesticated dog (canis familiaris) or domesticated cat (felis catus or domesticus), whether domestically raised or imported from another country, or any product or item containing or comprised of the fur, hair, skin or flesh of a dog or cat. As used in this section the term "domesticated dog or cat" shall not mean or include coyote (ranis latrans), fox (vulpes volpes, vulpes cinereoargenteus), lynx (felis lynx) or bobcat (felis rufus). 2. Manufacturers or suppliers shall provide certification to each retailer that any fur, hair, skin or flesh contained in such items is not derived from domesticated dog or domesticated cat. 3. The state commissioner of agriculture and markets shall establish a standard for the certification required by the provisions of subdivision two of this section on the effective date of this section. 4. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars for an individual and up to five thousand dollars for a corporation for the first violation. Any subsequent violation shall be punishable by a civil penalty of up to twenty-five thousand dollars. 5. Any civil penalties collected pursuant to this section of law are payable to the animal population control fund established pursuant to section ninety-seven-xx of the state finance law. 6. (a) No provision of this section shall be construed to prohibit or interfere with any properly conducted scientific tests, experiments or investigations involving the use of dog or cat fur or flesh, performed or conducted in laboratories or institutions, which are approved for these purposes by the state commissioner of health in accordance with section three hundred fifty-three of the agriculture and markets law.

(b) No provision of this section shall be construed to prohibit any person, firm, partnership or corporation from importing, selling, offering for sale, manufacturing, distributing, transporting, or otherwise marketing or trading in the fur, hair, skin, or flesh of a domesticated dog or cat for the purposes of conducting scientific tests, experiments or investigations that are to be performed or conducted in laboratories or institutions, which are approved for these purposes by the state commissioner of health in accordance with section three hundred fifty-three of the agriculture and markets law.