ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — New York’s Article 26-C changes how animal shelters operate. Starting December 15, it creates new official requirements for any group that rescues dogs and cats, requiring better veterinary care, specific housing standards, and daily exercise.

State officials say the changes guarantee safe treatment for every homeless animal. Now, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets will license and inspect all animal welfare organizations, from small rescues that rely on foster homes to large shelters with a brick-and-mortar presence. The law exempts sanctuaries that do not adopt out animals.

Dr. Bridgette Kennedy, the Companion Animal Program Manager for the Department of Agriculture and Markets, said animals need room to move in a webinar published to YouTube on November 7. She explained that now, facilities are legally required to give pets enough space to “stand up, turn around, and not have their head and tail touch both sides of the enclosure at the same time.”

The law requires staff to give each dog and cat 20 minutes of social time daily. Facilities also have to hire enough people to allow for at least 15 minutes of feeding time and cleaning cages or crates per animal every day. To prevent overcrowding, a maximum of 12 adult cats or five adult dogs can be kept per enclosure.

Kennedy listed more rules for shelter buildings:

• Temperatures must stay between 60 and 80 degrees.
• Noise levels cannot be above 85 decibels on an ongoing basis.
• Lighting must mimic normal day and night cycles.
• Ammonia levels in the air must stay under two parts per million.

Shelters cannot tether a dog for more than 30 minutes without supervision or leave them outdoors for more than 12 hours in a single day. Facilities keeping animals outside when it’s below 50 degrees also have to provide a heated shelter.

Every employee or volunteer with animal care duties must finish specific training within 60 days. Kennedy listed recognizing animal cruelty, controlling infectious diseases, and learning body language to handle pets safely as prerequisites.

The law also tightens medical rules, requiring staff to check every new animal for injuries within two hours of arrival. A vet or other trained staff member must perform a full physical exam within 24 hours. Staff also need access to protective gear when handling animals that could be sick and have to give core vaccines like rabies and distemper within 48 hours.

If a shelter spays or neuters an animal, its abdomen will be tattooed to record the surgery. Owners of animals adopted before being fixed have to pay a $35 deposit that gets refunded once they give the shelter proof.

And to protect local pets from disease, shelters will also have to hold animals coming from other states for 48 hours before adoption. Transport vehicles for animals who travel into New York have to be between 60 and 85 degrees, and dogs or cats from breeders licensed by the federal government can’t come into the state until they’re over a year old.

Libby Post, Executive Director of the New York State Animal Protection Federation, said that New Yorkers looking to adopt a pet will also have access to better records. She pointed out that paperwork will now include a full vet history, behavioral history, and bite history, if there is one.

Post said that adoption fees probably won’t rise, because the costs of care are already part of the process at many shelters and rescues. On Monday, she also dismissed arguments that the cost of upgrades will close small rescues, calling it fearmongering.

She explained that organizations who didn’t already meet the new standards had three years to prepare, and that the requirements are based on recommendations from 2010. “This really is just about bringing everyone up to a level of care,” Post said. “Remember, it’s based on standards that are 15 years old.”

Even so, some pet foster families who volunteer worry that the state will inspect their private homes if they foster dogs. Kennedy clarified that inspectors will visit a rescue organization’s main office, but not individual homes.

Rather than knocking on the doors of volunteers, she said foster checks are “mostly going to be paperwork based.” Still, fosters will have to license any foster dog older than four months in the town where they live.

“No foster is being inspected,” Post clarifies. “No one from Ag and Markets is going to come knocking on the door of a foster-based rescue.”

The state had also offered money to help facilities prepare. According to Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball, the Companion Animal Capital Projects Fund has already given out “over $48 million dollars” for shelter upgrades.

Plus, Ag and Markets calls the first year an educational year. That means inspectors will visit shelters to teach them when they fall short, not assess penalties.

“No one is being shut down,” Post said. “If there’s a complaint, the complaint’s not going to automatically trigger an inspection, because Ag and Markets has to do their due diligence.”

Kennedy said inspectors would only issue a license to rescues that pass a surprise inspection. If inspectors find dangerous violations, the shelter has seven days to fix them. Other problems get 30 days.

“Our goal is not to penalize anyone unnecessarily,” Kennedy said in November. “Our goal is really to help bring organizations into compliance.”