Queens Needs A Full-Service Animal Shelter, Bayside Lawmaker Says

BAYSIDE, QUEENS -- Despite being one of the most populated areas in the country, Queens is one of New York City's only borough's without a single full-service animal shelter.

City Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) hopes to change that by posing a law that would require full-service animal shelters in each borough, particularly Queens and the Bronx. Both boroughs right now only have "receiving shelters," which don't provide shelter, medical or adoption services for homeless animals but instead ship them to overcrowded shelters in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

"In the end, homeless animals are the ones that face the consequences of this pressure as many otherwise healthy pets are lost to euthanasia," Vallone said.

A law was first passed in 2000 to mandate full-service animal shelters in all five boroughs, but the requirement was scrapped under "Local Law 59" in 2011, leaving Queens and the Bronx with only receiving centers.

Since reintroducing the legislation in his last term on City Council, Vallone secured $10 million from Mayor Bill de Blasio for two brand new full-service shelters in Queens and the Bronx in 2016.

De Blasio recently announced plans for a 47,000-square-foot Animal Care Centers of NYC to open in East Bronx by 2024, but plans for a full-service Queens shelter remain uncertain, Vallone said.

"If it were its own city, Queens alone would rank as the nation’s fourth largest and it is unacceptable that no animal shelter currently exists,” Vallone said.

Lead photo courtesy of Queens City Councilman Paul Vallone's office.