Many of you have been following the fight for Penny’s Law, and we've made some progress with a resolution in the NYC Council. It calls on New York State to strengthen protections against dangerous and reckless dog ownership. You can read the full resolution here: Penny’s Law – Res 0963-2025.
Right now, the resolution is stuck in the Committee on Public Safety and has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. If it doesn’t get heard and passed this year, it will expire and have to be reintroduced in January — meaning we start all over again.
The critical next step is making sure Penny’s Law is prioritized for a hearing. That only happens if Council Members push for it.
How you can help today:
If You are A NYC resident, find your local Council Member and ask them to co-sponsor Penny’s Law. If you are NOT a resident of NYC you can still contact council members. NYC is an international city and pressure from everywhere can still help!
Every additional signature of a council member increases pressure to get it heard. Look up your district here: Find My Council Member
Contact the key decision-makers directly (even if you don't live here):
Council Member Gale Brewer (Primary Sponsor – District 6): Contact Gale Brewer
Council Member Yusef Salaam (Chair, Committee on Public Safety – District 9): Contact Yusef Salaam
Sample message you can copy/paste (for email or phone):
"I strongly support Penny’s Law (Res 0963-2025). Please prioritize this resolution for a Public Safety hearing and add your support as a co-sponsor. Protecting our communities and ensuring responsible dog ownership is an urgent public safety issue. Thank you for your leadership."
We only have 2–3 months left in this legislative session. Please take a few minutes today to reach out — and we would also greatly appreciate if you copy and paste this post into other neighborhood and community groups. The more voices we have, the harder it is for City Council to ignore.
Together, we can make sure Penny’s Law gets the hearing it deserves. Thank you for all of your help!!