NYC Legislation

Pending New York City Bills

• Pet Food Pantry – Int. 1172/2025: Requires the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to establish at least one pet food pantry (defined as a program that provides pet food for free) and to submit a report to the mayor and speaker of the NYC Council to include, among other things, data on the number of pet “parents” who visited the pantry, quantity of food distributed, and estimated cost and feasibility of continuing the pantry and establishing pantries in additional locations.
• Spay/Neuter – Int. 12-2024: Requires the Department of Finance to include a space on city tax forms to enable taxpayers to make a donation to support spaying and neutering at shelters maintained by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (ACC-Animal Care Centers).
• Surgical Devocalization – Int. 184-2024: Prohibits the surgical devocalization of dogs and cats except when medically necessary to treat or relieve physical illness, infection, disease, or injury, or to correct a congenital abnormality that is causing or will cause a dog or cat physical harm or pain.
• Elephant Protection – Int. 213-2024: Restricts possession of elephants unless each elephant has a habitat of at least 15 acres, has access to topographic features to promote the elephant’s well-being, and is able to forage for food and water throughout the habitat. Also addresses social groupings and bans breeding. Relocation of elephants must be to facilities that meet the above referenced standards.
• Shelter Transparency and Accountability – Int. 386-2024: Requires the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to publicly issue monthly reports on animal shelters that are in contract with the City of New York, to include statistics on how many animals were received, euthanized, adopted, transferred, sterilized, lost, or died. Further requires the report to indicate the length of time each animal was in the full-service shelter before being euthanized and to categorize animals as healthy, treatable-rehabilitatable, treatable-manageable, and unhealthy-untreatable.
• Dog Runs – Int. 417-2024: Requires the Department of Parks and Recreation to develop a plan to increase the number of dog runs located throughout parks.
• Carriage Horses, Ryder’s Law – Int. No. 967: Bans the carriage horse industry in NYC, effective June 1, 2026. It further requires the humane disposition of the horses. It also requires the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to administer a workforce development program for drivers and other workers engaged in the carriage horse industry to facilitate their transition to other fields of employment. Ryder, an elderly and frail horse, was forced to work in the summer heat and collapsed. He was then whipped by the driver of his carriage. Due to his poor medical condition, Ryder was eventually euthanized.
• Sick time for Animal Care – Int. 1089-2024: Allows employees to use their sick time for absence from work to care for their companion or service animals who need medical care.
• Bird Sales – Int. 1325-2025: Prohibits pet shops from displaying, offering for sale, delivering, bartering, auctioning, giving away, transferring, or selling any bird of a species typically kept as a companion animal, such as parrots, cockatiels, finches, parakeets, and macaws.