Animal Shelters Face Changes

New standards take effect in December
Animal shelters and rescue organizations in Beacon and the rest of the state are facing new standards that will take effect next month and change how they care for cats and dogs and require some to spend tens of thousands of dollars on upgrades.
Some minor renovations have already taken place at the Animal Rescue Foundation in Beacon, which is applying for grant funding to cover up to $100,000 in expected costs to comply with the Companion Animal Care Standards Act passed by the state in 2022. When the law takes effect Dec. 15, animal shelters and rescues will have to be licensed by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets and be inspected for compliance with stringent health and safety standards.
Among the new guidelines, volunteers and paid staff will have to undergo training in caring for animals, with humane handling, zoonotic diseases and animal cruelty among the mandated topics. They will also have to begin keeping comprehensive records on each animal, including behavior and health, and provide regular grooming and at least 20 minutes per day of "positive social interactions," such as petting, walking or playing with toys.
To prevent overcrowding, shelters will be prohibited from keeping more animals than they have housing units for, and the law sets guidelines for the infrastructure at licensed facilities, including indoor surfaces, drainage and noise and lighting levels. Facilities must keep temperatures in housing areas between 60 and 80 degrees, isolate animals with infectious diseases and provide at least eight hours a day of both light and darkness.

Since 2017, shelters run directly by municipalities or contracting with them have had to register with Ag and Markets. But the new law establishes licensing and expands oversight to private facilities (generally considered "rescues" as opposed to municipal shelters). It will cover about 450 entities statewide, according to Libby Post, the executive director of the New York State Animal Protection Federation.
During the gap between the law's passage and effective date, NYSAPF has used $500,000 in funding from three foundations to offer free assistance to shelters on meeting the new guidelines, said Post. Each facility receives a report that serves as a "roadmap of what they need to do to meet the standards," she said.
"In the first year, it's going to be a learning year for everybody - for the shelters and rescues as well as Ag and Markets - and no one's getting shut down," said Post.
Most of the standards reflect things already being done by ARF, said David Rocha, its board president. But volunteers and staff at ARF, which is one of NYSAPF's 150 members, will have to spend more time documenting how they are caring for the animals, he said. Those volunteers usually work two- to three-hour shifts taking care of as many as 24 cats and 10 dogs, said Rocha.
"In that timeframe, we want the bulk of their attention to really go to the animals, not paperwork, so we're trying to make that as easy as we can," he said.
Meeting the physical requirements of the legislation will be "more difficult" for ARF, whose original footprint once served as a water treatment plant for Beacon and has been augmented with additions, said Rocha.
A "kitten room" for nursing mothers was recently added as one of ARF's first upgrades. But the cinder-block building, which "sits on 6 or 8 feet of concrete," will need its floors sealed and a generator to meet the requirement for backup power.
In May, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced over $10.4 million in grants to 30 organizations from the state's Companion Animal Capital Fund, which launched in 2017. One of the awardees, the Dutchess County SPCA, received $270,000 for "new cat cages with upgraded climate control and bedding." Grants from the fund, which have been used on projects such as new HVAC systems, X-ray rooms and drainage, have totaled $38 million since 2017.
ARF is applying to the fund to help with an e...