The Right to Shelter

Left Outside. Left Unprotected. Technically Legal.

Imagine a dog chained in a backyard during a January blizzard. No doghouse. No cover. Just wind, ice, and darkness. Under current New York law, as long as that dog has been given food and water, what's happening to them may not constitute a crime.

Assembly Bill A10676 would change that.

What the Law Says Now — and What It's Missing

New York's Agriculture and Markets Law, Section 353, is the state's core animal cruelty statute. It prohibits overdriving, torturing, injuring, and depriving animals of food or drink. Violating it is a Class A misdemeanor.

But shelter is not in the law. It was simply never added.

That means an animal left outside in a freezing storm, a sweltering heat wave, or a soaking downpour — with no access to protection — may fall into a legal gray zone that makes enforcement difficult or impossible for animal control officers and law enforcement.

This is not a theoretical problem. It happens every winter. Every summer.

What This Bill Does

A10676 amends Section 353 to add "OR SHELTER" throughout the statute — making it explicitly illegal to:

• Deprive any animal of necessary shelter

• Neglect or refuse to furnish shelter

• Cause or permit any animal to be deprived of shelter

The change is surgical and precise. Just a word — but a word with real legal teeth.

The bill also proposes a clear definition of what adequate shelter actually means. To qualify, a shelter must:

• Have a waterproof roof

• Be structurally sound and appropriate for local climate conditions, including protection from direct sunlight when heat poses a health risk

• Allow the animal enough room to stand up, turn around, and lie down with limbs outstretched

• Allow for effective removal of waste and be regularly cleaned to maintain sanitary conditions

These are not high bars. They are the minimum conditions any living creature deserves.

New York Is Behind

Iowa, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington already include shelter in their animal cruelty statutes. New York — a state that prides itself on progressive animal welfare standards — has not caught up.

This bill is an opportunity to fix an oversight that should have been corrected long ago.

Why It Matters

Animals cannot knock on a door and ask to come inside. They cannot call for help, file a complaint, or wait out a storm somewhere else. They are entirely dependent on the people responsible for them — and on the laws that hold those people accountable.

Right now, an animal's right to shelter in New York exists only as a moral expectation, not a legal one. A10676 makes it both.

Supporting this bill asks nothing complicated: just that animals left in our care have a roof over their heads when the weather turns dangerous. That should not be optional. It should be law.