ASPCA Participates in Long-Awaited Public Hearing to be Held on NYC Pets in Housing Bill (Intro. No. 380)

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Thursday, 4 December 2003

The no-pet lease provision would be waived for the duration of the tenant's occupancy, not just the lifetime of the pet.

On Monday, December 8 at 10:00 AM, New Yorkers will gather at City Hall for a long-awaited public hearing on Intro. No. 380, also known as the Pets in Housing Bill. A true cross section of citizens including tenants, senior citizens, attorneys, humane organization representatives, medical experts and celebrities are expected in the City Council Chambers to testify before the New York City Council Housing and Buildings Committee, in support of Intro. No. 380. Immediately following is a press conference scheduled for 12:30 PM on the steps of City Hall.

Under current interpretation of the law a person who shares their home with a companion animal can be prevented from replacing a pet that dies with a new one. For millions of New Yorkers who consider their pets part of the family and depend on them for companionship, especially the elderly, this is unacceptable. In addition to the toll on humans, New York joins the rest of the country in an overpopulated animal shelter crisis. Over 10,000-12,000 adoptable animals are destroyed in New York City shelters every year, while many of these cats and dogs lives could be spared if there were more homes available to them. Councilmember Melinda Katz with support from her colleagues will push a vote in the coming months on Intro. No. 380, which, if passed, will represent a huge victory for tenants and pet owners.

"On average, 40,000 cats and dogs are euthanized at NYC shelters each year, many because there are not enough available homes for them," stated Edwin J. Sayres, ASPCA President. "If we truly are committed to making NYC a no-kill city by 2008, then Intro. No. 380 is invaluable to animal shelters across the city in boosting their adoptions rates."

Intro No. 380 has two basic tenant protection provisions:

1. The existing law will be clarified to protect the rights of all tenants to keep pets when landlords fail to enforce a no-pet lease provision within three months from the time tenants openly begin to harbor pets. The no-pet lease provision would be waived for the duration of the tenant's occupancy, not just the lifetime of the pet.
2. Senior citizens would be granted the right to have pets and could not be denied occupancy in or be subjected to eviction from multiple dwellings on the sole ground that they have pets. (They would not need to prove that they had the animal for 3 months.)

Note: Tenants that allow their animals to create a nuisance or interferes with the health, safety and welfare of the other tenants or occupants of the same or adjacent building or structure, are not covered by this amendment to the law.

"We look forward to hearing testimony on this common sense bill from so many affected tenants that live in New York City. For so many folks pets are truly a member of their family," stated Councilmember Melinda Katz.

Included in the population of pet-loving New Yorkers that support Intro. No. 380 are celebrities Grant Aleksander, William Baldwin, Julia Barr, Rue McClanahan, Isaac Mizrahi and Bernadette Peters to name just a few. "Pets are members of our families and should be valued as such," remarked New York resident and longtime animal activist Bernadette Peters. "I strongly support Councilmember Katz's Intro. No. 380 because it recognizes the value our companion animals have in our lives and its purpose is to keep people and pets together."

"We need to change the current law, so that once a landlord waives the no-pet clause in a tenant's lease, it is waived for the duration of the tenant's occupancy, not just for the lifetime of a particular animal," said Laura Imperiale, a representative of Humane USA, a national animal protection, political action committee.

Senior citizen, Larry Ostrow is just one example of someone whose quality of life would improve from passage of Intro. No. 380. Mr. Ostrow kept a dog in his Upper East Side apartment for more than 20 years. When his dog died, he adopted Waldo, a ten pound Cairn Terrier. Larry's landlord brought him to court on a violation of the no-pet lease clause. The landlord won, based upon the courts interpretation of the law that landlords have the right to enforce the no-pet clause for each pet. Facing an eviction and possible homelessness, Mr. Ostrow has made the difficult decision to place Waldo with a relative instead.

Intro.No. 380 was introduced by Councilmember Melinda Katz and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Tony Avella, Gale Brewer, Bill de Blasio, Robert Jackson, G. Oliver Koppell, Margarita Lopez, Eva Moskowitz, Michael Nelson, Bill Perkins, Christine Quinn, Joel Rivera, Kendall Stewart, David Weprin and David Yassky. Humane USA is planning on submitting to the Housing and Buildings Committee, approximately 9,000 signed petitions which were collected city-wide in support of Intro. No. 380.

For more information, or to contact American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, see their website at: www.aspca.org