Assemblyman Tony Simone, D-New York City, is pictured on the Assembly floor during this year’s legislative session.

A New York City lawmaker is trying again to increase the penalty for those who kill a pet under an owner’s control while on the road.

Assemblyman Tony Simone, D-New York City, reintroduced A.10660 recently in the state Assembly. A version of the bill was introduced in 2023 in the state Senate. Simone proposes increasing the first and subsequent penalties for reckless driving that result in the injury or death of a pet. Companion animals are defined as any dog or cat or any domesticated animal normally maintained in or near the household. .

“Recent reporting in the New York Times laid bare the fact that under the law, killing a pet with a motor vehicle results in a fine equivalent to an illegal U-turn,” Simone wrote in his legislative justification. “As New York has seen an increase in the number of pets rise to nearly half of every household, the risk that one of them is killed from reck-

less driving increases as well. The current amount that is fined for first and subsequent offenses is not enough to be an effective deterrent for drivers to remain safe in areas with household pets. With over 1.1 million household dogs and cats in New York City alone there must be more substantial penalties to protect pets that more than 50% of people consider members of their families.”

Many bills dealing with cruelty to animals focus on negligent behavior by animal owners. Simone’s bill takes a different approach. He proposes amending a 2010 safe driving law that requires drivers to exercise due care in the presence of bicyclists and pedestrians in the road. Simone would add companion animals to the statute, with drivers found not to exercise due care around domesticated animals in the road facing a fine of no more than $500 or 15 days imprisonment.

Fines would be more for those who kill a companion animal and leave the scene of an accident. State law already requires drivers to stop if they strike a horse, dog, cat or animal classified as cattle and take “reasonable and appropriate action so the animal can have necessary attention and also report the incident to the owner, custodian or a police officer. Drivers are supposed to give their driver’s license and insurance information as well. Simone proposes increasing fines for those who leave the scene from $100 to $500 for a first offense and to between $250 and $750 for any future offenses.

“This legislation includes pets under the law, as it currently does for pedestrians, cyclists, sheep, cattle and goats, when a driver fails to exercise due care. It also increases fines when a driver leaves the scene of injury to an animal without reporting the incident,” Simone wrote in his legislative justification.

Simone’s bill may face an easier road in the state Senate than it will in the state Assembly. The state Senate earlier this year passed several pieces of animal cruelty legislation, including:

S.761, which removes the term “serious” from the phrase “serious physical injury” in the definition of aggravated cruelty to animals so that intentionally causing physical injury of any kind would be punishable under this offense.

S.3431A, which creates new criminal offenses related to animal fighting.

S.5325, which allows a judge discretion to order consecutive or concurrent sentences when an individual is convicted of multiple counts of aggravated cruelty to animals.

S.142 and S.9847, both of which would restrict the practice of surgical devocalization procedures on dogs and cats to medical necessity.

None of the Senate-approved bills made it to the Assembly floor for a vote before the end of this year’s legislative session.