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Council considers a 12‑month pilot pet food pantry; Health Department seeks more details from ACC
Summary
Intro. 11‑72 would require the Health Department to create a 12‑month pet food pantry pilot. Council members and animal‑welfare groups urged the committee to adopt the pilot; DOHMH said it would follow up with the Animal Care Centers (ACC) and stressed the need for dedicated funding and coordination with existing programs.
Council members and animal‑welfare advocates urged the City Council’s Committee on Health to approve a 12‑month pilot program establishing one or more pet food pantries to keep owners from surrendering animals when households face food insecurity.
Council Member Robert Holden described Intro. 11‑72 as a way to create a safety net for pet owners who otherwise may surrender animals because of financial strain. "With the passage of this bill, the Department of Health would create and maintain a pet food pantry for at least 12 months," Holden said, urging the committee to study feasibility and potential expansion.
Deputy Commissioner Corinne Schiff said DOHMH appreciates the council’s interest but that the department would like to follow up with the Animal Care Centers of New York City (ACC), which operates a surrender‑prevention pet food pantry and was unable to attend the hearing. Schiff said ACC has at least one pantry location in the Bronx and that DOHMH would consult ACC and other partners before endorsing a specific pilot design.
Advocates urged funding and geographic accessibility. Heather Butts of the Staten Island Hunger Task Force asked the council to select Staten Island as the pilot site and emphasized that pet owners often face the same food‑security pressures as people. Representatives from the ASPCA and Voices for Shelter Animals asked the council to allocate new funding (advocates suggested a six‑ or seven‑figure pilot budget) to cover storage, staffing, distribution and transportation, and warned that relying solely on ACC’s limited existing resources would not meet citywide demand.
The Health Department said it would follow up with ACC and other stakeholders to provide the committee with program details and discuss potential collaboration, including leveraging existing food‑pantry distribution points to reduce stigma and improve access.
No vote was taken at the hearing. Sponsors and advocates said they would press for pilot funding and operational details before the measure moves forward.
