united-states new-york-state
How is the following law about animal abuse in New York interpreted?
<p><a href="https://www.animallaw.info/statute/ny-cruelty-consolidated-cruelty-statutes#s353" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This law</a> of New York says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>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
  <strong>deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, food or drink, or
  neglects or refuses to furnish it such sustenance or drink,</strong> 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 wilfully 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 class A misdemeanor and for purposes of paragraph (b) of
  subdivision one of section 160.10 of the criminal procedure law, shall
  be treated as a misdemeanor defined in the penal law.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If someone owns an animal but doesn't have the money to feed it, will he get punished for that?</p>

<p>The entire law is <a href="http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/ai/AILaws/Article_26_Circ_916_Cruelty_to_Animals.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, for reference. There have been cases where the question comes up whether medical treatment is a kind of sustenance (it <a href="https://www.animallaw.info/case/people-v-curcio" rel="nofollow noreferrer">could be</a> or <a href="http://www.leagle.com/decision/20046713Misc3d668_1584/PEOPLE%20v.%20ARROYO" rel="nofollow noreferrer">is not</a>), but there can be no question about whether feeding an animal is covered by the requirement to provide sustenance. No provision in the law suspends the obligation to follow the law in case a person does not have the money to obey the law, nor is there any general legal principle that if you don't have spare money to do X, you don't have to do legally-required X.</p>
