NY Pols Pledge Abuser Accountability. Kill-Pound Pals Excepted.
Lawmakers in Albany and NYC took credit for bills that would do nothing to impede the state's most prolific abusers.
Headlines from Buffalo to Brooklyn
It’s May 9, 2026. This is The Weekly Poop.
This week, electeds in Albany and NYC again cosplayed “friends of the animals,” congratulating themselves for bills that may never become law, and if they do will do nothing to bring to heel New York’s most prolific companion animal abusers: publicly-funded kill pounds from Buffalo to Brooklyn.
With customary self-indulgent fanfare, state Senate Democrats on Tuesday announced the passage of 11 animal-related bills, on issues including surgical devocalization, insurance discrimination, pets abandoned in vacated rental housing, cruelty laws and cruelty law enforcement.
“It is incumbent upon us to advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves, including our beloved pets and animals,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. “We remain committed to preventing and addressing animal mistreatment, ensuring animals are treated with dignity and compassion, and holding abusers accountable.”
“Simply put,” Stewart-Cousins said at a related presser, “we’re standing up for animals and raising awareness about their treatment and well-being.”
If only Stewart-Cousins’ rhetoric resembled reality.
To begin with, of the 11 bills passed by the Senate, 10 remain in Assembly committees, where humane legislation goes to die. In fact, many bills passed by the Senate this session might already be law if not for Stewart-Cousins’ obstructionist colleagues — agriculture committee chair Donna Lupardo (D-Binghamton) and codes chair Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) in particular. At this writing, Lupardo is holding up three of the 11 bills advanced by the Senate, while five have been idled by Dinowitz.
Last year, of 18 companion animal-friendly bills tracked by The Scoop New York, 17 died in the Assembly. The lone bill to clear both houses — meant to prevent insurance companies from discriminating against renters with pets — was vetoed by Governor Kathy Hochul, who hasn’t signed a major piece of humane legislation into law since 2022.
And lest we forget, Stewart-Cousins was Senate majority leader when both houses rejected the Shelter Animal Rescue Act, which would have required New York kill “shelters” to offer animals to rescues, rather than exterminate them. That Senate and Assembly reps — Lupardo and her Senate ag chair counterpart, Michelle Hinchey of Kingston, to be exact — spiked what would arguably have been the most consequential piece of humane legislation in modern New York history puts the lie to any subsequent claim that state electeds have a serious interest in the welfare of companion animals.
You can’t “stand up” for an animal you purposely allowed a “shelter” to poison to death because its staffers were itching to clock out that day.
Also this week, New York City Council Member Gale Brewer announced bills she introduced to mandate that NYPD designate an “animal cruelty liaison” in each precinct, and require the city health department develop an online form for New Yorkers to report dog bites. A third bill would have DOH, which oversees NYC ACC on behalf of the mayor, establish a program to encourage New Yorkers to purchase dog licenses.
Brewer’s bills are a response to a spate of recent dog-on-dog attacks that left victims seriously hurt and, in at least one case, fatally injured, and after which the aggressor dogs remained with owners who faced little to no repercussions. All well and good, but when the cameras disappear, so does Brewer’s sympathy for the city’s companion animals.
When a few years back New Yorkers asked her to investigate everyday ACC cruelty and abuse — namely, the routine misuse of human-grade prescription drugs and the gratuitously brutal practice of altering animals only to kill them during or shortly after recovery — Brewer sent a fake concern letter to her buddy Risa Weinstock, longtime ACC CEO, who played along by sending back a copy-paste of bullshit ACC talking points. The End.
When The Scoop New York followed up to ask Brewer what she was doing to improve conditions for animals at DOH’s ACC, she had nothing to say.
The suffering endured by thousands of New York kill-pound victims is a direct result of such situational compassion, on the part of every New York elected, from City Hall to the state legislature, who condemn cruelty unless the perpetrators, as they do, also happen to draw a government paycheck.
After all, what’s a little state-sanctioned savagery among friends?
OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE FOR STATE LEGISLATION
Governor Kathy Hochul: 518-474-8390; Contact form
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins: 518-455-2585; Contact form
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie: 518-455-3791; Email
Senate ag chair Michelle Hinchey: 518-455-2350; Email
Assembly ag chair Donna Lupardo: 518-455-5431; Email
Your state Senate and Assembly reps: Lookup
Here’s the latest New York companion animal news:
You can love companion animals or you can love watching their adoptive families terrorized by the government, but not both.
Residents of Belmont in the Bronx are desperate to get their pets back two weeks after an apartment building fire and Mamdani’s ACC and Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations are doing everything they can to avoid helping.
Aforementioned state Senator Michelle Hinchey introduced a bill to eliminate state sales tax on pet food for animals who have so far managed to survive her tenure as an elected official.
Related: State Senator Pete Harckham and Assembly Member Chris Burdick want New York to ban rodent poisons that are harmful to wild animals, pets and children.
NYC Council Member Phil Wong is giving away pet food to residents of his Queens district, and ONLY residents of his district.
Rochester Animal Services is looking for foster help ahead of a much-needed renovation project.
Susquehanna SPCA in Cooperstown opened its new farm animal shelter after purchasing the land last year.
Felony charges were laid against alleged lowlifes accused of cruelty in separate cases in Niagara and Jefferson counties.
Finally: Fulton County Regional SPCA in Gloversville has foster candidates for Marley, a stray 5-year-old black Lab with a short life expectancy due to cancer, after the Albany Times Union featured Marley’s story — which had she turned up in NYC would likely have ended with a swift backroom killing and a garbage bag, possibly after unnecessary surgery for the lulz.
Food recalls
FDA recently announced one pet food recall:
Albright’s Raw Pet Food chicken recipe for dogs (salmonella)
Check here for more info on FDA-announced recalls, and here for details on prior FDA advisories and outbreaks.