Section 353-A. Aggravated cruelty to animals

1. A person is guilty of
  aggravated cruelty to animals when, with no justifiable purpose,  he  or
  she  intentionally kills or intentionally causes serious physical injury
  to a companion animal with aggravated cruelty.   For  purposes  of  this
  section, "aggravated cruelty" shall mean conduct which:  (i) is intended
  to  cause  extreme  physical  pain; or (ii) is done or carried out in an
  especially depraved or sadistic manner.
    2. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit or
  interfere in any way with anyone lawfully engaged in hunting,  trapping,
  or   fishing,  as  provided  in  article  eleven  of  the  environmental
  conservation law, the dispatch of rabid or diseased animals, as provided
  in article twenty-one of the public  health  law,  or  the  dispatch  of
  animals  posing  a  threat  to human safety or other animals, where such
  action is  otherwise  legally  authorized,  or  any  properly  conducted
  scientific  tests,  experiments,  or investigations involving the use of
  living animals, performed or conducted in laboratories  or  institutions
  approved  for  such  purposes  by the commissioner of health pursuant to
  section three hundred fifty-three of this article.
    3. Aggravated cruelty to animals is a felony. A defendant convicted of
  this offense shall be sentenced pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision
  one of section 55.10 of the penal law provided, however, that  any  term
  of  imprisonment  imposed  for  violation  of  this  section  shall be a
  definite sentence, which may not exceed two years.