A bi-partisan group of New York state legislators are coming together to proposed the state’s first animal boarding legislation following a suite of animal abuse cases this summer.
“Oh, he was crazy. He was a Frenchie. He’s—well we called him a jester because he didn’t care. Always happy, always lovey, always expressive. At nighttime you’d go to bed and he slept under the covers with us. He’d get the kids up in the morning. All of those things that he did that we miss immensely,” said Katy Levy.
Katy Levy is one of a number of pet owners who gathered at the Saratoga County Sheriff Department’s headquarters Tuesday for the announcement of proposed legislation that would create the first set of standards in New York for animal boarders.
Her 2-year-old French Bulldog Gus died this summer after being left outside in the heat while under the care of an animal boarding facility in Halfmoon.
In August, two individuals were charged in connection to a case in which police say more than 50 dogs, a majority of which were puppies, were found in “deplorable conditions.”
Now, Republican State Senator Jim Tedisco is proposing legislation that would require boarders to register, pay $150 annually for a license, and be subject to random inspections and safety requirements.
Violators could face up to a $1,000 fine and suspension of their license.
“Nobody should be fearful of having to give their dog to a boarding facility in New York state to go on vacation, visit a sick loved one, to have some maintenance in their house where they have to board an animal and not know there are uniform guidelines, regulations, and safety features across the state of New York for every facility they may put their dog in. They should have the good comfort and the feeling that their dog would be treated as safe as they’re treated in their home,” said Tedisco.
A draft of the proposed legislation sets standards at boarding facilities for regulating heat and sound levels, ensuring regular feeding of pets, and adequate sanitation practices.
Democratic Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara is also sponsoring the legislation.
“This bill is not about adding burdens. It’s about creating confidence. Confidence for families, confidence for responsible business owners – there’s facilities out there that are doing it the right way. Confidence that tragedies like this can be prevented. We don’t want to hear about headlines like this anymore. Whether we’ve done this in other areas like childcare, eldercare, we can do it here,” said Santabarbara.
The owners of a Washington County dog boarding facility were charged with animal neglect in August after 21 animals were found dead at their facility. Authorities report the animals were left in inside a kennel for 11 hours without proper ventilation or water.
Cody Shields lost three dogs boarded at the facility
“I’m not a politician, I’m not a lawmaker but to see something get moving this fast, you know I created the safe pet boarding act as an idea and I was sending it out to legislators and lawmakers, next thing I knew Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, Jim Tedisco were saying, ‘hey we like this, we want to move forward with it.’ So, it had no motion and within a month see where we’re at right now,” said Shields.
Tedisco tells WAMC he’s also determined to establish a statewide animal abuse registry. Currently only 26 of New York’s 62 counties have such registries, with Saratoga County establishing its own this month.
