ALBANY – A bill seeking to protect pets in the event their owners are evicted from their homes has been signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The new law, which took effect immediately, requires officers executing an eviction warrant to search the property for animals and coordinate their safe removal with the person being evicted or local animal protection services before locking up the property.
The bill was introduced in January following the eviction of a Brooklyn family whose pit bull was locked in a small cage inside the residence with no access to food or water, according to a sponsor’s memo attached to the bill.
The dog remained locked in the cage for two days until the family gained a court order to enter the apartment and retrieve the two-year-old rescue pet.
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