Albany Hasn't Passed a Companion Animal Welfare Bill Since 2024
Meanwhile, Bronx rep Jeffrey Dinowitz is making a case to succeed Donna Lupardo as lead Assembly obstructionist.
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It took three months to find the body.
In February, 31-year-old Anaiya Harris was sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation after she admitted to sealing her dog inside a closet before she vacated a Utica apartment in March of 2025.
By the time the landlord checked Harris’ former home, in June, the dog had long since succumbed to hunger and thirst.
While Harris was directly responsible, the torture-killing of her dog may have been prevented but for inaction by the New York State Legislature, and one lawmaker in particular.
For three consecutive years — 2023, 2024 and 2025 — the New York Senate passed a bill to require landlords to inspect vacated properties within three days. The bill was intended to prevent precisely what happened to Harris’ dog, which is a not-uncommon occurrence, though it’s more often due to life-altering emergencies, or tenants lacking the financial resources to care for a pet, than a deliberate act of deadly cruelty.
Had Governor Kathy Hochul signed the 2024 version of the bill into law without sabotaging it — which, to be sure, is never a given — it would have taken effect several months before Harris left her dog to die. But like many other legislative attempts to protect New York companion animals, the 2024 vacated properties bill stalled in the Assembly agriculture committee — just as it did in 2023 and 2025.
Presiding over the Assembly ag committee as the bill languished like an emaciated abandoned pet: chair Donna Lupardo of Binghamton.
Since, legislatively speaking, New York considers cats, dogs and other household pets on par with animals farmed for food, most companion animal bills are routed through the agriculture committees of both houses. Along with her ag chair counterpart in the Senate, Michelle Hinchey of Kingston, Lupardo is perhaps most infamous for killing the Shelter Animal Rescue Act, which would require kill “shelters” to make animals available to rescues, rather than exterminate them.
SARA is revenue-neutral, meaning it would cost taxpayers nothing. So why would a state lawmaker — especially one who considers herself an advocate for animals — shoot down legislation to save countless companion animal lives at no cost to constituents?
As The Scoop New York reported in March:
SARA was opposed by the New York State Animal Protection Federation — a lobbying group for kill pound personnel — along with other high-profile pro-kill orgs including ASPCA and Humane Society of the United States. Since Lupardo and Hinchey take their orders from the powerful, like the governor and virtually every other New York politician, tens of thousands of cats and dogs who would be alive today were instead burned to ash, with thousands more joining them in perpetuity for the foreseeable future.
More broadly, while state senators try to advance at least enough animal-friendly legislation to pad an annual press release, of dozens of bills tracked by The Scoop New York since 2024, the Assembly has passed just one — to prevent insurance companies from discriminating against renters with pets — which Hochul then vetoed.
Other than the insurance bill, lawmakers haven’t sent a significant piece of companion animal welfare legislation to the governor’s desk since 2022. As shown in the legislation tracker below, of 23 active bills followed by The Scoop New York this year, the Senate passed nine. For the second consecutive year, under the leadership of purported dog-lover Carl Heastie, New York Assembly members failed to pass a single one.
There is some good news for the state’s homeless companion animals and the New Yorkers who care about them: after 20 years in the Assembly, Lupardo opted against seeking another term this year.
The bad news: one of Lupardo’s soon-to-be former colleagues is making a solid case to succeed her as chief Assembly obstructionist.
In office since President Bill Clinton’s first term, Bronx rep Jeffrey Dinowitz chairs the Assembly codes committee, where no fewer than eight animal-friendly bills met their end this year. Legislation to prohibit people from tethering dogs in inhumane conditions, multiple bills to make cruelty law enforcement easier for police and SPCAs, and — after it finally cleared Lupardo’s committee — the vacated properties bill all stalled this year because Dinowitz chose not to shepherd them toward the governor’s desk.
In late July, The Scoop New York asked Dinowitz’s office why his committee fails to move so many animal welfare bills. There was no reply.
Barring a special session before the year is out, the New York State Legislature will reconvene in January.
S.1742 (Monica Martinez)/A.11276 (Paula Kay): Elevates charge for inappropriate sheltering of a dog from a civil violation to a misdemeanor.
Current status: Died in the Senate codes committee, chaired by Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn); died in the Assembly agriculture committee, chaired by Donna Lupardo (D-Binghamton)
S.7532B (Pete Harckham)/A.10750A (Chris Burdick): The RAPTORS Act restricts the use of rodenticides linked to wildlife deaths and companion animal poisonings.
Current status: Died in the Senate rules committee and the Assembly environmental conservation committee, chaired by Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) and Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan), respectively. In office since the first Bush administration, Glick has announced she will not run for reelection when her term ends this year.
S.9981 (Michelle Hinchey)/A.10815 (Keith Powers): Exempts “certain pet food” from sales taxes.
Current status: Stalled in the Senate budget revenue committee and the Assembly ways and means committee, chaired by Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn) and J. Gary Pretlow (D-Mt. Vernon), respectively
S.9231 (Jessica Scarcella-Spanton)/A.6722 (Kay): Restores bail for felony aggravated animal cruelty. This bill is supported by reps from both major parties, as well as law enforcement and animal advocates.
Current status: Failed in Senate and Assembly codes committees, chaired by Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) and Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx), respectively
S.197 (Martinez)/A.3050 (Jen Lunsford): “Tucker’s Law” would increase the maximum penalty for aggravated cruelty to animals from two years to four, as prescribed for other class E felonies. Tucker’s Law passed the Senate last year, but died in Donna Lupardo’s Assembly agriculture committee.
Current status: Passed Senate; died in the Assembly rules committee, chaired by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx)
S.703 (Liz Krueger)/A.2019 (Linda Rosenthal): Strengthens the aggravated animal cruelty statute by removing the word “serious” from “serious physical injury” in state code, which currently applies only in cases when a perpetrator causes permanent physical injury to the victim. The Senate passed the bill last year; the Assembly version died in the codes committee, chaired by Jeffrey Dinowitz.
Current status: Passed Senate; died in the Assembly codes committee, chaired by Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx)
S.3158 (James Skoufis)/A.1816 (Rosenthal): Establishes animal fighting as a “designated criminal act” in state code, with more serious penalties for some related offenses. The Senate passed this bill in 2024 and 2025, but the Assembly failed to move it either session.
Current status: Passed Senate; died in the Assembly codes committee, chaired by Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx)
S.3073 (Michael Gianaris)/A.2555 (John McDonald): Establishes a civil, as opposed to criminal, process for law enforcement to initiate animal forfeiture, as in cases when mental or physical illness affects the ability to care for an animal. Though the bill is endorsed by law enforcement, it failed in both houses in 2024. The Senate passed it in 2025; the Assembly did not.
Current status: Passed Senate; died in the Assembly agriculture committee, chaired by Donna Lupardo
S.8228 (Martinez)/A.1609 (Lunsford): Designates animal shelters with SPCAs as “qualified agencies,” allowing access to centralized law enforcement data and making it easier to track people who commit acts of cruelty.
Current status: For the second consecutive year, this bill died in the Senate and Assembly codes committees, chaired by Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) and Jeffrey Dinowitz, respectively
S.2603 (Joseph Addabbo)/A.3297 (McDonald): Enhances penalties for harming companion animals with a deadly weapon or “dangerous instrument” with intent to cause serious physical injury. Donna Lupardo and Michelle Hinchey killed this bill last year.
Current status: Failed in Senate and Assembly agriculture committees, chaired by Michelle Hinchey and Donna Lupardo, respectively
S.3026 (Gianaris)/A.8551 (Landon Dais): Bans devocalization surgeries on cats and dogs with exceptions for medical necessity. This bill cleared the Senate but was killed by the Assembly in 2024 and 2025.
Current status: Passed Senate; though it was added to the floor calendar, Carl Heastie’s Assembly failed to pass the devocalization ban for the third consecutive year
S.09399 (Martinez)/A.06602 (Lunsford): Establishes the crime of endangering the welfare of a companion animal or farm [sic] animal in the first and second degree, with charges up to and including a class E felony, the state’s least severe felony category. Law enforcement says the bill would facilitate earlier intervention in cases of suspected abuse and neglect. No Senate version of this bill was introduced last year; the Assembly version died in Donna Lupardo’s agriculture committee.
Current status: Failed in Senate and Assembly agriculture committees, chaired by Michelle Hinchey and Donna Lupardo, respectively
S.1664 (Harckham)/A.1196 (Rosenthal): Gives SPCA cruelty investigators access to live scan fingerprinting tech, allowing them to make arrests independently of other law enforcement. State senators passed this bill in 2024 and 2025 but it died in Jeffrey Dinowitz’s Assembly codes committee.
Current status: Passed Senate; died in Assembly codes committee, chaired by Jeffrey Dinowitz
S.6573 (Hinchey)/A.1698 (David Weprin): Requires municipal employees to attempt to identify and notify the owners of a deceased dog or cat recovered on public roads.
Current status: Passed Senate; added to Assembly floor calendar, but Speaker Carl Heastie failed to move it
A.791 (Manny De Los Santos)/No Senate number: Introduced by Democratic Assembly Member Manny De Los Santos of Upper Manhattan, this bill would allow workers to receive paid sick leave for pet care. As in 2025, there was no action on the bill in the Assembly after January. Also like last year, the Senate did not introduce a twin bill.
Current status: Died in Assembly labor committee, chaired by Harry B. Bronson (D-Rochester); no Senate version introduced
S.7011 (Scarcella-Spanton)/A.7388 (Jake Blumencranz): “Peanut’s Law” would make it more difficult for state agencies to seize and immediately kill animals from animal sanctuaries.
Current status: Failed in Senate and Assembly environmental conservation committees, chaired by Peter Harckham and Deborah Glick, respectively
S.6380 (Jabari Brisport)/A.165 (Rosenthal): Enacts civil penalties for tethering dogs outside in inhumane conditions, including severe weather. Donna Lupardo and Michelle Hinchey killed this bill last year.
Current status: Died in Senate agriculture committee, chaired by Michelle Hinchey; died in Assembly codes committee, chaired by Jeffrey Dinowitz
S.1784 (Hinchey)/A.5505 (Lupardo): Requires landlords to inspect properties for abandoned animals within three days of a property being vacated. The Senate passed this bill in 2025. Donna Lupardo was the primary Assembly sponsor, but she killed her own bill, along with an untold number of pets who have since suffered tortuous deaths in vacant homes.
Current status: Passed Senate; died in Assembly codes committee, chaired by Jeffrey Dinowitz
S.252 (Martinez)/A.1804 (Rosenthal): Expands the extant ban on the sale or possession of certain “wild animals” to include “marsupials, sloths, anteaters, hyenas, bearcats, and zebras, among others.” The Senate passed this bill last year, but the Assembly version died in the environmental conservation committee, chaired by Deborah Glick.
Current status: Passed Senate; died in Deborah Glick’s Assembly environmental conservation committee
S.6733 (Anthony Palumbo)/A.8038 (Edward Ra): Creates the Animal Offense Assistance Fund to provide continued support to animal shelters for expenses related to housing and rehabilitating animals seized by law enforcement, to be funded via court fee surcharges for specific convictions. In 2025 this bill died in the Senate and Assembly codes committees, chaired by Zellnor Myrie and Jeffrey Dinowitz, respectively.
Current status: Died in Senate agriculture committee, chaired by Michelle Hinchey; died in Assembly codes committee, chaired by Jeffrey Dinowitz
S.8084A (Harckham)/A.10119A (Sarah Clark): Establishes a statewide animal abuser registry for felony and misdemeanor animal crime convictions, and requires background checks against the registry for pet store and animal shelter licenses. Roughly half of New York’s 62 counties have abuser registries of their own. A statewide registry, which has support from Republican and Democratic legislators, would make it harder for convicted abusers to obtain animals outside of the county where they live. The Senate version of this bill died in Michelle Hinchey’s agriculture committee in 2025; no Assembly version was introduced last year.
Current status: Failed in Senate and Assembly agriculture committees, chaired by Michelle Hinchey and Donna Lupardo, respectively
A.00665 (Rosenthal)/No Senate number: Similar to the proposed animal abuser registry, this bill would create a database of statewide convictions for animal cruelty and related crimes, accessible to “all law enforcement entities, district attorneys, duly incorporated humane societies, societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, dog or cat protective associations and animal control officers.”
Current status: This bill died in Donna Lupardo’s Assembly agriculture committee in 2025 and 2026; no Senate version was introduced in either year
S.04613 (Alexis Weik)/A.05815 (Rosenthal): Allows for orders of protection for companion animals by authorizing judges to compel abusers to relinquish or refrain from any contact with a pet.
Current status: This bill died in the Senate children and families committee and Assembly judiciary committee, chaired by Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn) and Charles D. Lavine (D-Glen Cove), respectively, in 2025 and 2026
