Section 17-802
§ 17-802 Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter, the following
terms shall be defined as follows:
a. "Adoption" means the delivery of a dog or cat deemed appropriate
and suitable by an animal shelter to an individual at least eighteen
years of age who has been approved to own, care and provide for the
animal by the animal shelter.
b. "Consumer" means any individual purchasing an animal from a pet
shop. A pet shop shall not be considered a consumer.
c. "Feral cat" shall mean an animal of the species felis catus who has
no owner, is unsocialized to humans and has a temperament of extreme
fear of and resistance to contact with humans.
d. "Full-service shelter" shall mean a facility required to have a
permit issued pursuant to subdivision (b) of section 161.09 of the New
York city health code that houses lost, stray or homeless animals and:
(1) accepts dogs and cats twelve hours per day, seven days per week;
(2) has an adoption program available seven days per week; and
(3) provides sterilization services for dogs and cats and any other
veterinary services deemed necessary by a licensed veterinarian at such
shelter or at a veterinary facility.
e. "Pet shop" means a facility required to have a permit issued
pursuant to subdivision (a) of section 161.09 of the New York city
health code, where dogs and/or cats are sold, exchanged, bartered, or
offered for sale as pet animals to the general public at retail for
profit. Such definition shall not include full-service shelters or other
animal shelters that make dogs and cats available for adoption whether
or not a fee for such adoption is charged.
f. "Sterilization" means rendering a dog or cat, who is at least eight
weeks of age, unable to reproduce, by surgically altering the dog's or
cat's reproductive organs or by non-surgical methods or technologies
approved by the United States food and drug administration or the United
States department of agriculture and acceptable to the department. Such
definition shall include the spaying of a female dog or cat or the
neutering of a male dog or cat.
g. "Trap-neuter-return" means a program to trap, vaccinate for rabies,
sterilize and identify feral cats and return them to the locations where
they were found.
Section 17-803
§ 17-803 Animal shelters.
a. A full-service shelter shall be maintained and operated in each of
three boroughs of the city of New York. At least one of the full-service
shelters shall be open to the public for the purpose of receiving
animals twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week.
b. Facilities to receive lost, stray or homeless dogs and cats from
the public shall be maintained seven days per week, twelve hours per day
in those boroughs of the city in which there is not a full-service
shelter.
c. Field services having the capacity to pick up and bring to a
shelter lost, stray, homeless or injured dogs and cats from all five
boroughs shall be maintained and operated seven days per week, twelve
hours per day. Where public health and safety is threatened, they shall
have the capacity to pick up such animals twenty-four hours per day.
Section 17-804
§ 17-804 Sterilization required. a. No full-service shelter or other
shelter for homeless animals required to have a permit issued pursuant
to subdivision (b) of section 161.09 of the New York city health code
shall release a dog or cat to a person claiming ownership thereof, or to
a person adopting such dog or cat, unless such dog or cat has been
sterilized by a licensed veterinarian; provided, however, that such
requirement shall not apply:
(1) if a licensed veterinarian certifies to such shelter that he or
she has examined such dog or cat and found that because of a medical
reason, the life of such dog or cat would be endangered by
sterilization; provided, however, that such reason shall not consist
solely of the youth of such dog or cat, if such dog or cat is at least
eight weeks of age;
(2) in the case of a dog, if such dog, within the time period provided
for by law, rule or regulation, is claimed by a person claiming
ownership thereof, and such person demonstrates to the satisfaction of
the shelter that such dog has a breed ring show record from the American
Kennel Club or United Kennel Club or other similar, registry
association, dated no more than twelve months prior to the date such dog
entered such shelter, or such person claiming ownership is able to
provide proof that such dog has successfully completed the requirements
of the American Kennel Club or United Kennel Club or other similar,
registry association, for the title Champion or its equivalent, at any
time prior to the arrival of the dog at the shelter;
(3) in the case of a dog, if such dog, within the time period provided
for by law, rule or regulation, is claimed by a person claiming
ownership thereof, and such person demonstrates to the satisfaction of
the shelter that such dog is a guide dog, hearing dog, service dog or
police work dog; or
(4) in the case of a cat, if such cat within the time period provided
for by law, rule or regulation, is claimed by a person claiming
ownership thereof, and such person demonstrates to the satisfaction of
such shelter that such cat has a breed show record from the Cat Fancier
Association or other similar, registry association dated no more than
twelve months prior to the date such cat entered such shelter or such
person claiming ownership is able to provide proof that such cat has
successfully completed the requirements of the Cat Fancier Association
or other similar, registry association for the title Champion, Grand
Champion or its equivalent, at any time prior to the arrival of the cat
at the shelter.
b. No pet shop shall release to a consumer a dog or cat that has not
been sterilized by a licensed veterinarian; provided, however, that such
requirement shall not apply to a consumer who presents to the pet shop a
letter from such consumer's licensed veterinarian, dated within the
immediately preceding ten days, stating the reason(s) why, in the
opinion of such veterinarian, such dog or cat should not be sterilized
until a later specified date, not to exceed four months following the
date of such letter. Such letter shall state that such veterinarian will
cause such dog or cat to be sterilized at the request of such consumer
on or before such later specified date. Such veterinarian shall also
provide to the pet shop a certificate, in such form and manner as
determined by rules promulgated by the department, stating the date on
which such sterilization was performed. Any consumer who provides a pet
shop with a letter with respect to a later sterilization of a dog or cat
must ensure that such animal is sterilized by the date indicated in the
letter.
c. Every pet shop, in accordance with rules promulgated by the
department, shall maintain records of dog and cat sales, sterilization
procedures performed at the request of the pet shop, and veterinarian
letters and certificates received, and shall retain such records,
letters and certificates for a period of two years. Such records,
letters and certificates shall be made available to the department
according to rules promulgated by the department.
d. Every owner of a cat who permits such cat to roam outside the
interior of the owner's dwelling shall have such cat sterilized. At the
request of employees or authorized agents of the department, owners
shall provide proof satisfactory to the department that a cat found
roaming has been sterilized. The Department shall not seize a cat solely
on the ground that the cat has not been sterilized.
e. The department shall post and maintain on its website a regularly
updated list of organizations in New York city that offer
trap-neuter-return information and conduct trap-neuter-return
activities.
Section 17-805
§ 17-805 Reporting requirements. The department shall provide the
mayor and the city council with a report by February twenty-eight of
each year which shall set forth information regarding the management and
operation of all full-service shelters performing services pursuant to a
contract with the city of New York, including but not limited to:
a. The following information with respect to the previous calendar
year:
(1) the total number of animals accepted by each full-service shelter;
(2) the total number of animals that were sterilized at each
full-service shelter;
(3) the total number of animals that were humanely euthanized at each
full-service shelter;
(4) the total number of healthy animals that were humanely euthanized
at each full-service shelter;
(5) the total number of animals that were adopted at each full-service
shelter;
(6) the total number of animals at each full-service shelter that were
returned to their owner; and
(7) the number of animals at each full-service shelter that were
provided to other shelters for adoption.
b. The following information for each month of the previous calendar
year:
(1) the total number of animals, disaggregated by borough, picked up
by field services during regular business hours and delivered to (A)
receiving facilities and (B) full-service shelters;
(2) the total number of animals, disaggregated by borough, picked up
by field services during off hours and delivered to (A) receiving
facilities and (B) full-service shelters;
(3) the total number of animals taken in and transferred to a
full-service shelter from each receiving facility; and
(4) the staffing levels at all full-service shelters and receiving
facilities.
c. The department shall report to the mayor and the council each month
the total number of healthy animals that were humanely euthanized at
each full-service shelter during the previous month.
d. No later than twenty-four months after the effective date of the
local law that added this subdivision, the department shall provide to
the mayor and the council a report that summarizes and describes trends
in the reporting requirements provided annually in accordance with this
section.
Section 17-806
§ 17-806 Violations. Any person found to be in violation of
subdivision (b), (c) or (d) of section 17-804 of this chapter or any of
the rules promulgated thereunder shall be liable for a civil penalty of
not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than five hundred
dollars for each violation. A proceeding to recover any civil penalty
authorized pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be commenced
by the service of a notice of violation which shall be returnable to the
administrative tribunal authorized to adjudicate violations of the
health code.
Section 17-807
§ 17-807 Rules. The commissioner may promulgate such rules as are
necessary for the purposes of implementing and carrying out the
provisions of this chapter.
Section 17-808
§ 17-808 Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or other portion of this local law is, for any reason, declared
unconstitutional or invalid, in whole or in part, by any court of
competent jurisdiction such portion shall be deemed severable, and such
unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this law, which remaining portions shall continue
in full force and effect.
Section 17-809
§ 17-809 No limitation on additional services. Nothing contained in
this chapter shall be deemed to limit the department's authority to
offer additional services or facilities to facilitate the decline in
numbers of unwanted and uncared for animals in New York city.
Section 17-810
§ 17-810 Euthanizing animals; time frame for making such
determination. In determining when a full-service shelter may euthanize
a lost, stray or homeless animal held by it, such shelter shall exclude
from the calculation of the number of hours that such shelter is
required by law to hold such animal before euthanizing such animal those
hours when such shelter is not required to accept dogs and cats pursuant
to paragraph one of subdivision d of section 17-802 of this chapter.
Such calculation of the number of hours shall not take into
consideration the full-service shelter required to accept dogs and cats
twenty-four hours per day pursuant to subdivision a of section 17-803 of
this chapter.
Section 17-811
§ 17-811 Animal population control program. The department shall
promulgate rules and regulations to establish and implement an animal
population control program within one hundred eighty days from the
effective date of this section. The purpose of this program shall be to
reduce the population of unwanted stray dogs and cats thereby reducing
potential threats to public health and safety and reducing the costs of
caring for these animals. This program shall seek to accomplish its
purpose by encouraging residents of the city of New York who are the
owners of dogs and cats to have them spayed or neutered by providing no
or low-cost spaying and neutering services to such owners. The
department shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to establish
an animal population control program including, but not limited, to
creating clinics or mobile units where such services shall be performed
and establishing criteria for pet owner eligibility to use such
services. Indicia of eligibility for pet owners seeking no or low-cost
spay and neuter services shall include but not be limited to any
criteria deemed acceptable by the agencies performing the services. The
commissioner may solicit and accept funds from the animal population
control fund established pursuant to section 17-812 of this chapter and
any other public or private source to help carry out the provisions of
this section.
Section 17-812
§ 17-812 Animal population control fund. 1. There is hereby
established in the joint custody of the city comptroller and
commissioner of finance a fund to be known as the "animal population
control fund" which shall be used by the department to subsidize the
city's animal population control program as established by section
17-811 of this chapter.
2. Such fund shall consist of all moneys collected from the animal
population control program established pursuant to section 17-811 of
this chapter and section three-a of chapter one hundred fifteen of the
laws of eighteen hundred ninety-four, and all other moneys credited or
transferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to law.
3. Moneys of the fund shall be made available to the department and
shall be expended for the purposes of carrying out animal population
control programs pursuant to the provisions of section 17-811 of this
chapter. Moneys shall be paid out of the fund on the audit and warrant
of the city comptroller and approved by the commissioner. Any interest
received by the city comptroller on moneys on deposit in the animal
population control fund shall be retained in and become part of such
fund.
Section 17-813
§ 17-813 Dog license fee. a. In addition to the fees required pursuant
to chapter 115 of the laws of 1894, as amended, any person applying for
a dog license shall pay twenty-five dollars and fifty cents for any dog
four months of age or older that has not been spayed or neutered unless
an owner presents with the license application a statement certified by
a licensed veterinarian stating that he or she has examined the dog and
found that because of old age or other reasons, the life of the dog
would be endangered by spaying or neutering.
b. Fees collected pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be
directed to the animal population control fund established pursuant to
section 17-812.
To the extent possible under law, Friends of Devin Balkind for Public Advocate has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to New York City Administrative Code. This work is published from: United States.
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