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Statutes » New York » ENV Law » Article 11

N.Y. ENV Law § 11-0538

This is the official text of N.Y. ENV Law § 11-0538, part of New York’s ENV Law — part of the compiled statutory law of New York, published by the state as "ENV Law." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Direct contact between public and big cats prohibited

Official statutory text

§ 11-0538. Direct contact between public and big cats prohibited.\n 1. As used in this section:\n (a) "Big cat" shall mean any live species of lion (panthera leo),\ntiger (panthera tigres), leopard (panthera pardus) (with the exception\nof clouded leopards (neofelis nebulosa)), jaguar (panthera onca),\nmountain lion, sometimes called cougar (felis concolar) or any hybrid of\nsuch species.\n (b) "Direct contact" means physical contact or proximity where\nphysical contact is possible, including, but not limited to, allowing a\nphotograph to be taken without a permanent physical barrier designed to\nprevent physical contact between the public and big cats.\n (c) "Dealer" shall mean any person who, in commerce, for compensation\nor profit, delivers for transportation, or transports, except as a\ncarrier, buys, sells, or negotiates the purchase or sale of any animals.\n (d) "Exhibitor" shall mean any person (public or private) exhibiting\nany animals, which were purchased in commerce or the intended\ndistribution of which affects commerce, or will affect commerce, to the\npublic for compensation, as determined by the commissioner, and such\nterm includes carnivals, circuses, and zoos exhibiting such animals\nwhether operated for profit or not.\n 2. It shall be unlawful for any person licensed or required to be\nlicensed as an exhibitor or dealer pursuant to the Animal Welfare Act, 7\nUSC 2132-2134, including agents or employees of such person, to\nknowingly allow the public to have direct contact with a big cat.\n 3. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be\nsubject to a penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for the first\noffense and not more than one thousand dollars for a second and\nsubsequent offenses. Each instance of allowing direct contact of a big\ncat with the public in violation of this section shall constitute a\nseparate offense.\n 4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or restrict\nveterinary examination, treatment or care of a big cat or transportation\nof the animal for such purpose.\n

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.