Bloomberg Signs Legislation To Protect Shelter Animals

Animal rights advocates hailed legislation that expands hours and services at city-run shelters, as well as toughens regulations requiring owners to spay or neuter their free-roaming pets.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the bill, Intro 655-A, into law on Wednesday.

“We cannot stand by and let animals suffer in our city,” said Ed Sayres, president and CEO of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “Intro. 655 is an immediate solution in the midst of this crisis."

As a result of the legislation's passage, $1 million in extra funds will go to the city's five Animal Care and Control Centers, including one located on Linden Boulevard in East New York. By July 2014, funding for city shelters will total $12 million—a 77 percent increase over this year.

The AC&C facilities have come under fire by animal rights activists for their policy of euthanizing pets. In response to the city's policy, numerous "no-kill" shelters and animal rescue operations have popped up throughout Brooklyn and the rest of the city.

One of the stated aims of the legislation, according to Bloomberg, is to limit the number of euthanizations in city-run shelters—a figure the administration claims is already on the decline 10 years after the Council first enacted the Animal Shelter and Sterilization Act.

According to the ASPCA, of the six to seven million animals entering shelters across the U.S. every year, three to four million are put down. The figure includes 60 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats.

With fines levied against pet owners who do not sterilize their animals and the promulgation of a "trap, neuter and return" program, the city looks to hold down animal populations to keep euthanasia rates on the decline.

"Today, the challenge facing the city is the need is to allocate and target resources to keep animals healthy and adoptable and to implement long term strategies that engage pet owners to reduce overpopulation," Bloomberg said.