“The proper care of animals is a serious subject and one that is important to the Sportsmen’s Alliance. However, we will not stand on the sidelines letting animal “care” advocates lump responsible sporting dog owners and breeders into the same categories as those who mistreat animals in any way, shape, or form,” said Naomi Farmer, director of legislative affairs at the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “Instead of creating a lazy, overbroad new definition to address this issue, the committee needs to listen to sportsmen and fix this massive over-reach because we are not the problem.”
Assembly Bill A6145 and Assembly Bill A165 are being promoted to the public as "common-sense pet protection" bills. Their vague language and rigid restrictions could expose anyone who breeds, trains, or hunts with sporting dogs in New York to severe legal liability.
Here is an informational overview of how A6145 and A165 would negatively affect our outdoor heritage:
Assembly Bill A165 (Outdoor Restraint Restrictions) implements severe statewide restrictions on the outdoor tethering and restraint of dogs. While the Sportsmen’s Alliance supports the humane treatment of animals, this proposal introduces unworkable mandates for working dogs:
- The Weather Advisory Restriction: The bill prohibits tethering or restraining a dog outdoors if any weather advisory, alert, or warning has been issued. Because standard winter weather advisories or summer heat alerts routinely blanket New York counties for days at a time, temporarily tying up a tracking hound or waterfowl dog at a campsite or staging area during a routine weather event could lead to immediate code violations.
- Vague Definitions: The language leaves room for subjective interpretation of what constitutes an "inhumane condition," disproportionately threatening traditional field practices for working sporting breeds that thrive in outdoor environments.
Assembly Bill A6145 (Kennel & Shelter Mandates) establishes hyper-engineered, costly structural requirements for outdoor dog shelters and kennels.
- One-Size-Fits-All Mandates: This bill applies uniform structural and temperature mandates across all breeds. It ignores centuries of specialized breeding, treating a thick-coated, cold-hardy hunting hound the same as an indoor lapdog.
- Daily Accumulating Fines: Landowners and sportsmen who house sporting dogs in traditional, safe outdoor kennels could face crushing daily fines starting just 72 hours after an initial citation if their setups do not mirror the newly manufactured state guidelines.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., and if you cannot attend in person, you can watch it online.
Watch Online: https://nyassembly.gov/av/upcoming/
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