Q&A
Enforcement of animal welfare regulations and pet sales
0:49:11
·
3 min
Council Member Schulman questions DOHMH officials about enforcement of various animal welfare regulations, including unlawful breeding, housing animals for sale, and pet shop compliance. The discussion reveals challenges in enforcement and data collection.
- DOHMH takes complaints about animals being sold out of homes but lacks specific data
- Enforcement of the health code prohibiting keeping animals for sale in dwellings is difficult
- DOHMH has taken enforcement actions against non-compliant pet shops, prioritizing animal welfare
- Enforcement of online animal sales is unclear and requires further investigation
Lynn C. Schulman
0:49:11
So one of the things that I had asked and I presume once all of you are finished test the admin is finished testifying, there'll be somebody that stays to listen to the testimony because there are organizations out there.
0:49:24
That do this work, and I wanna see where we can do a public private partnership as well so that we can take best practices and figure out how we can deal with this problem together.
0:49:34
Does DO HMH receive complaints of unlawful breeding and housing of animals sale?
Corinne Schiff
0:49:42
I I do while we're on complaints, I did I can answer your question about 311.
0:49:47
There is a separate complaint function for complaints about pet shops, including that the pet shop has received animals from Mhmm.
0:49:57
From an from an improper source.
Kathy Nizzari
0:50:00
Okay.
Corinne Schiff
0:50:01
We so we would take complaints also about sorry.
0:50:04
Can you repeat exactly what you were asking about complaints?
Lynn C. Schulman
0:50:07
Color
Corinne Schiff
0:50:10
complaint about animals being sold out of a home.
0:50:14
Is that what you said?
0:50:14
Yeah.
0:50:15
Yes.
0:50:15
We we would take complaints about that as well.
0:50:17
Yes.
Lynn C. Schulman
0:50:18
Okay.
0:50:20
We'll take a look.
0:50:20
Do you do you have those stat I mean, I realized that we you saw that they do take the complaints.
0:50:26
Do we have those numbers or you just don't have them right now?
Corinne Schiff
0:50:29
I don't have our complaint numbers, but we can certainly pull those and send them.
Lynn C. Schulman
0:50:32
If you can pull those and send them and
Corinne Schiff
0:50:34
Yeah.
Lynn C. Schulman
0:50:34
We will do that a bit.
0:50:36
You don't see it.
0:50:37
Okay.
0:50:42
Does does I'm sorry.
0:50:46
Alright.
0:50:46
When oh, can the complaints of unlawful breeding and housing animals for sale, do you know how many are you gonna get back to about that.
Linda Mann
0:50:52
Let's get we'll get back to you
Corinne Schiff
0:50:54
as complaint data.
Lynn C. Schulman
0:50:58
The health code prohibits keeping animals for sale in a dwelling.
0:51:02
Has DOH MH enforced this provision how does DO HMH receive information about these violations other than 311?
0:51:10
And what steps does it take to address them?
Corinne Schiff
0:51:15
We have done enforcement.
0:51:18
We learn about it through complaints, typically.
0:51:22
These are difficult to enforce, and and and it is unusual.
0:51:29
It is an unusual complaint.
0:51:30
I don't have the numbers, but it is a it is not a frequent complaint that we got.
Lynn C. Schulman
0:51:35
What enforcement excuse me.
0:51:37
What enforcement actions has DOH MH taken against pet dealers that do not comply with the current pet shop regulations and what penalties are in place for continued violations?
Corinne Schiff
0:51:50
So this is for animals from an improper source.
Lynn C. Schulman
0:51:53
Mhmm.
Corinne Schiff
0:51:53
So we have we have done some enforcement actions for the pet shops that were out of compliance.
0:52:00
We will issue violations.
0:52:02
And then we can take additional enforcement actions, including, you know, ordering the pet shop to to cease and desist the unlawful behavior.
0:52:10
And when we take these actions, they're they're complicated in the sense that we prioritize the health and safety of the animals, in the shop.
0:52:19
So we want to take an enforcement action that also recognizes that there are animals that will need to be cared for in an ongoing way.
Lynn C. Schulman
0:52:31
What about what about online postings for animals?
0:52:34
How do you how do you do enforcement in that regard?
Corinne Schiff
0:52:39
I'll have to get back to you.
0:52:40
I'm not sure that we enforce that or have the capacity, you know, the authority to enforce that.
0:52:45
So we'll we'll get back to about that.