NYCLASS raises a paw for Councilman Vallone and the broad coalition of co-sponsors of this important legislation mandating that every borough of New York has an accessible full-service facility providing sheltering, medical services and adoptions for homeless animals. For too long, shelters have been stretched beyond their means, leading to the euthanasia of otherwise healthy pets. A first rate city deserves a first rate animal shelter system.

We are delighted that the New York City Bar Association Animal Law Committee supports ending the unsafe and inhumane horse-drawn carriage industry in New York. After careful consideration of the mayor’s proposed legislation, the Animal Law Committee determined that the plan is the right solution that will not only remove horse carriages from busy city streets but also create good jobs. Citing traffic accidents and animal welfare concerns, the Committee is now urging the City Council to pass the mayor’s plan and we are pleased to stand with such a prestigious organization in this effort.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Council Members Helen Rosenthal and Corey Johnson and Advocates Rally to Support Meatless Mondays Resolution

In response to the deaths of eleven horse at Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, New York:

"We commend Mayor de Blasio for standing up against the "pandemonium" over the Central Park Zoo. Pandas are complex animals who, as breeding pairs, require over 10 square miles of forested space in the wild. They don't belong in a cramped enclosure in the middle of the biggest, most chaotic city in the country.

Pandas cost over a million dollars a year to keep, a commitment that New York's zoos aren't interested in shouldering. At zoos, pandas live in unnaturally small habitats for the amusement of guests under the guise of conservation, even though hundreds of pandas are kept captive despite lack of room and resources, and few have been successfully introduced to the wild."

"The restaurant and bar smoking ban was also unpopular at the time. People were up in hysterics, claiming that no one would ever socialize in public again. But 10 years later, it's considered one of the most successful public health initiatives in our city's history, while the bar and restaurant industry continues to thrive. When the carriage horses are off the streets, we'll look back at the absurdity of having animals pulling rickety 18th century carts in the middle of Manhattan traffic and say "What were people thinking?"