Overdriving

[James Harbeck]

Aha! Indeed you are right. In New York State, Article 26 of the
Agriculture & Markets Law, section 353, is "Overdriving, torturing
and injuring animals; failing to provide proper sustenance."

Here's the full text, for the curious:

----
A person who overdrives, overloads, tortures or cruelly beats or unjustifiably
injures, maims, mutilates or kills any animal, whether wild or tame,
and whether
belonging to himself or to another, or deprives any animal of
necessary sustenance,
food or drink, or neglects or refuses to furnish it such sustenance
or drink, or
causes, procures or permits any animal to be overdriven, overloaded, tortured,
cruelly beaten, or unjustifiably injured, maimed, mutilated or
killed, or to be deprived
of necessary food or drink, or who willfully sets on foot,
instigates, engages in, or in
any way furthers any act of cruelty to any animal, or any act tending
to produce such
cruelty, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for
not more than
one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by both.

Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit or interfere with any
properly conducted scientific tests, experiments or investigations,
involving the use
of living animals, performed or conducted in laboratories or
institutions, which are
approved for these purposes by the state commissioner of health. The state
commissioner of health shall prescribe the rules under which such
approval shall be
granted, including therein standards regarding the care and treatment
of any such
animals. Such rules shall be published and copies thereof
conspicuously posted in
each such laboratory or institution. The state commissioner of health
or his duly
authorized representative shall have the power to inspect such laboratories or
institutions to insure compliance with such rules and standards. Each
such approval
may be revoked at any time for failure to comply with such rules and
in any case the
approval shall be limited to a period not exceeding one year.
----

James Harbeck.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org