New York A 10731: Establishes standards for animal boarding facilities

Bill Text

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A10731 Summary:

BILL NOA10731 

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORWoerner

&nbsp

COSPNSRWalsh

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Add Art 19-C §§440 - 445, Exec L; add §99-uu, St Fin L

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Establishes standards for animal boarding facilities including licensing and inspections by the department of state.

Go to top A10731 Actions:

BILL NOA10731 

&nbsp

03/27/2026referred to economic development

Go to topA10731 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA10731 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA10731 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 10731

 IN ASSEMBLY

 March 27, 2026
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER, WALSH -- read once and referred to the
 Committee on Economic Development

 AN ACT to amend the executive law and the state finance law, in relation
 to establishing standards for animal boarding facilities

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new article 19-C
 2 to read as follows:
 3 ARTICLE 19-C
 4 REGULATION OF ANIMAL BOARDING FACILITIES
 5 Section 440. Definitions.
 6 441. License required and inspection of facilities.
 7 442. Recordkeeping and protocols.
 8 443. General facility standards.
 9 444. Animal housing.
 10 445. Animal husbandry.
 11 § 440. Definitions. For purposes of this article, the following terms
 12 shall have the following meanings:
 13 1. "Animal" shall mean a dog, cat or other companion animal, but shall
 14 not include livestock.
 15 2. "Animal boarding facility" means a for-profit facility owned, oper-
 16 ated or otherwise maintained for the care or custody of animals for
 17 boarding, training, or similar purposes, for varying periods of time,
 18 where the ownership of the animal is not transferred, regardless of
 19 whether such facility also serves as a personal residence. Such term
 20 shall not include:
 21 (a) facilities regulated as pet dealers under article twenty-six-A of
 22 the agriculture and markets law;
 23 (b) facilities regulated as animal shelters under article twenty-six-B
 24 of the agriculture and markets law;
 25 (c) facilities operated by a veterinarian as part of their regular
 26 veterinary practice;
 27 (d) "doggy day care" or "pet day care"; or

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD15109-01-6

 A. 10731 2

 1 (e) pet sitting services where care is provided in a private residence
 2 solely to animals that belong to the owner or lessor of such residence.
 3 3. "Department" shall mean the department of state.
 4 4. "Doggy day care" or "pet day care" shall mean short-term daytime
 5 care for six or fewer dogs, excluding working dogs as defined in section
 6 ninety of the state law and dogs owned by the proprietor of such day
 7 care facility that reside in such proprietor's residence, at a facility
 8 on property shared with such proprietor's residence that provides super-
 9 vised playtime and socialization for groups of dogs and food and water
 10 as needed, provided the duration of any stay does not exceed ten hours.
 11 5. "Primary enclosure" shall mean the area of confinement used for
 12 housing an individual animal and where such animal spends the majority
 13 of its time while staying at an animal boarding facility.
 14 6. "Secretary" shall mean the secretary of state of the state of New
 15 York.
 16 § 441. License required and inspection of facilities. 1. Any person
 17 operating an animal boarding facility shall be licensed by the depart-
 18 ment pursuant to the provisions of this article.
 19 2. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any person operating an animal
 20 boarding facility on or before the effective date of this section, who
 21 has filed an application for an initial license under this article is
 22 hereby authorized to operate without such license until the department
 23 grants or, after notice of an opportunity to be heard, declines to grant
 24 such license. Each application for licensure shall be made on a form
 25 supplied by the department, which contains such information as required
 26 by the department, and shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee of
 2