The ASPCA is asking the New York City Council to spend more money keeping pets in their homes, arguing that the biggest threat to animal welfare in the city is the cost of owning an animal. The group made the case in an opinion piece published in City and State on June 29.
The ASPCA wants the Council to fund three things: the city’s shelter system, affordable veterinary care and spay/neuter services, and a dedicated pet food assistance program. Low-income New Yorkers are increasingly at risk of surrendering pets because they cannot afford to feed them or pay for medical care. Every avoidable surrender piles more pressure onto shelters already running hot.
The group says 6 in 10 pet owners lack confidence they could cover a medical emergency, and more than 40 percent aren’t sure they can pay for routine care, based on its own data. A national ASPCA survey found that 4 in 10 pet owners have already made, or seriously considered, sacrifices elsewhere in their lives to keep caring for their animals. The organization says it delivered more than 60,000 veterinary services through its Community Medicine program in 2025, and that demand still far outstrips what it can provide.
On the shelter side, the ASPCA is pointing at Animal Care Centers of NYC, the city’s only open-admission shelter system, meaning the one that cannot turn an animal away. The group says it has contributed more than $12.6 million to support ACC since 2002, including $1.8 million in 2026 alone, and argues that new shelters, higher operating costs and inflation mean the city needs to fund ACC for what staffing and operations actually cost.
The ASPCA said nonprofits and the city should share responsibility. “We want to work alongside New York City as a partner in supporting animals and communities, not as a substitute for the city’s role,” the op-ed reads, adding that nonprofits “cannot, and should not, be expected to shoulder these gaps alone.” The group says services it now provides for free or at low cost are “fundamentally municipal responsibilities.”
The group credited two recent moves at City Hall. It called a $500,000 city investment in spay/neuter services from last year “a strong step forward” while saying more is needed, and it praised the recent formation of the Council’s Animal Welfare Caucus, led by Speaker Julie Menin and Council Member Harvey Epstein, as a sign that supporting pet ownership is being treated as “a core part of supporting families and communities.”
The ASPCA wants a city-funded pet food assistance program built in partnership with human services and community providers. The group says pet food insecurity is a growing problem, describing owners it encounters through community work who are stretching their own meals, running out of food, or weighing surrender as a last resort. The ASPCA argues that immediate relief would prevent surrenders before they happen.
The ASPCA, which the op-ed notes has operated for more than 160 years and works in the city alongside ACC and the New York City Police Department on cruelty cases and access to care, asked the Council to increase investment so that “no New Yorker is forced to choose between caring for themselves and keeping a beloved pet.”
Featured image: Bushwick Daily archive
