STATE ASSEMBLYWOMAN JENIFER RAJKUMAR ANNOUNCES “PENNY’S LAW” TO CRIMINALIZE ALLOWING DOGS TO ATTACK DOGS

 

RAJKUMAR’S BILL WILL STOP NEGLIGENT HANDLING OF AGGRESSIVE DOGS, SAVING NEW YORKERS FROM HEARTBREAK

State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar announced she is introducing “Penny’s Law,” a landmark bill that will create unprecedented accountability for negligent owners of aggressive dogs. Her bill will establish new crimes of cruelty to animals through negligent handling of a dog, and leaving the scene of an animal attack. It will also create new penalties for people who repeatedly allow their dogs off leash in violation of the law. When passed, Rajkumar’s bill will end the heartbreak of people’s beloved pets being injured or killed.

Currently, an owner allowing a dog to attack or even kill a dog is not generally a criminal offense unless the owner personally attacks the dog or a person is injured: under the law, the dogs are classified as “property.” Families whose dogs are attacked usually learn this tragic truth only when they attempt to file a police report and are told the police can do nothing.

This lack of accountability has permitted numerous dog owners to allow their pets to attack other dogs. The same owners will allow the behavior repeatedly, often dismissing it as “playing” or “a dog being a dog.” The exact number of attacks is unknown because the City only collects data on dogs attacking humans.

Fueling the crisis are pervasive dogs illegally off leash. This year alone, there were 1,300 reports to 311 of off leash dogs, representing only a small fraction of the total number of violations. Such flouting is a contributing factor to many dog attacks, as well as other tragedies such as dogs running away or being killed by motor vehicles.

Assemblywoman Rajkumar sprung into action and announced the bill in response to the viral media of Penny, a chihuahua on the Upper West Side, who was hospitalized this weekend when a couple allowed their aggressive pitbulls to attack her. The owner of the pitbulls is believed to have also let the dogs kill a dog in Central Park earlier this year, while the dogs were illegally off leash. In both instances the pitbull owners left the scene.

Sadly, this is all too common. There was a similar attack in Riverside Park on Thursday where a dog and person were injured by an illegally off leash dog, whose owner left the scene. Other high profile incidents include an Upper East Side bookstore operator whose reactive dogs attacked at least four dogs, one who had to be euthanized due to irreparable spinal damage. Even the dog of Assemblywoman Rajkumar’s own Senior Advisor was attacked twice by the same dog—once while the attacking dog was illegally off leash.

Assemblywoman Rajkumar said, “Anyone who has known the love of a dog knows they are much more than ‘property’: they are family. The fact that it is not a crime for someone to let their dog kill or injure your family member is a glaring injustice that needs fixing now. Penny’s tragedy and numerous others are 100% preventable if negligent dog owners know they cannot get away with it. When Penny’s Law passes, we will end these tragedies for good, showing that we are a society that values and cherishes our canine family.”

Lauren Claus, Penny’s pet parent who gave her blessing for the bill name, expressed her gratitude to Assemblywoman Rajkumar, saying on X, “This is my baby girl. She is a fighter. I need these people to be brought to account.”

The bill number is pending.