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Can you sue to city to enforce animal cruelty laws?

Asked over 2 years ago - New York, NY

Due to unusual history, the city of NY refers animal cruelty complaints to a well respected but nonetheless private non-profit group. When you call 311, they refer you to this group. This strikes me as unconstitutional that the city has abdicated responsibility to enforce a set of laws---and none of the complaints are answered off-hours. There is also no public accountability or transparency. Can you sue to city to stop this practice and refer complaint calls to the Police Department.

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I beg to differ:
1. The city won't take the complaint. 311 and nyc.gov refer you to the ASPCA. Local precincts usually won't take the complaint.
2. There is no accountability or transparency. There is no public accounting of the no of calls, their stautus, response rate/time. There is govt oversight of the ASPCA because they don't take public money. The ASPCA is not transparent. As a 501c3, they have a private board with private deliberations and their actions are not on the public record.
3. So why is this not a good case? Just because they are animals, why shouldn't the city protect them? There are scores of complaints on the internet about the ASPCA ignoring their complaints and calls. What recourse does the public have if the complaints are just piling up and not getting any attention? Why are these laws any less important than any other laws. There are no other laws where enforcement is outsourced without any contract, without any measurement, without any oversight.

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Attorney answers (1)

Laura Mcfarland-Taylor

Reputation Level 19

Answered over 2 years ago. Trademark Application Attorney in Bolingbrook, IL.

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In NYC you can report animal cruelty to either the police department or to ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement department, so it is incorrect to say that you cannot report cruelty complaints to the police department.

Even if the police department "refers out" the complaints, this is not unconstitutional. I also don't know why you say there is "no public accountability or transparency" since the ASPCA is pretty transparent.

In addition, it is very difficult and very expensive to sue any governmental entity and such suits are rarely successful, so unless you have a REALLY good case (and this isn't one of them), don't waste your time/money.

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