BY TEQUILA MINSKY | Animal rights advocates, with Mayor de Blasio and local politicians, packed the gym at the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center to help celebrate the Mayor’s signing legislation into law on Monday to protect and promote animal welfare — specifically the welfare of dogs, horses, and birds.
The legislative package of six bills include establishing an Office of Animal Welfare to increase reporting of animal cruelty, promoting animal shelter adoptions, and requiring that dogs entering kennels are in compliance with the New York City Health Code and are vaccinated for kennel cough. The trafficking of wild birds and sale of foie gras is now banned, and there is a bill that prohibits carriage horses from working in certain heat conditions.
District 2 City Council Member Carlina Rivera— East Village and neighborhoods north is her district— introduced two of the bills to City Council —the banning of foie gras and wild bird trafficking. She is among those present to mark this day supporting the rights of animals.
