Local Dog Lovers Petition for Stronger Backyard Breeding Enforcement

With hundreds of dogs being euthanized in the city’s Animal Care and Control (ACC) shelters each year, one dog owner started a petition to change investigation protocol and impose stiffer penalties on illegal breeders, who he feels are the source of many of the abandoned pets.

Sharon Goldberg, a Hell’s Kitchen resident, started the petition entitled “Bite Backyard Breeders Where It Hurts,” which calls for the public to have direct access to the Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad (ACIS) through an online tip line instead of having to go through the NYC non-emergency services 311 channel to report suspected breeders. Additionally, the petition seeks to create larger penalties for illegal breeders, beyond the current $1,000 fines. He urged that the penalty fines should also cover the costs for food, vet care and foster care before confiscated illegally bred dogs are re-homed. As of June 18, the petition, which is aimed at ACIS and the NYC Council, has gained over 820 signatures.

In 2025, NYC’s shelters administered euthanasia for nearly 700 dogs. Currently, as the petition describes, dogs that are a product of backyard breeding make up a large portion of dogs taken in by NYC shelters, leading to a higher chance of euthanasia due to shelter overpopulation. Goldberg sees two major with the current system: a lack of successful reporting, in which complaints even those with ample evidence get closed without investigation, and the penalties for breeders do not deter them for illegal activity.

Goldberg, who has come into contact with backyard breeding through one of her rescue dogs and through witnessing illegal breeding in her building, said she started the petition after seeing ‘heartbreaking’ posts of dogs being euthanized in the shelters.

“I thought, ‘What do you do? It’s already illegal, but what’s the enforcement mechanism at the moment,’” Goldberg told Straus News. “The protocol is that you call ‘311’ and you report what you know, and maybe they send somebody, maybe they don’t, but the ticket gets closed, and no action is taken. There’s no real consequence or outcome.”

Goldberg described how a majority of the dogs euthanized are of the pit bull breed, despite only having one legal litter breeder registered with the American Kennels Club in the NYC area. Backyard breeders, Goldberg noted, often sell dogs such as pit bulls on online social media platforms or through word of mouth.

Goldberg said she hopes imposing penalties for care costs will be a ‘chilling effect’ for illegal breeders and reduce shelter euthanasia incidents.

“Suddenly it’s maybe not such an attractive option, and it’s in that, that I think that there’s a possibility that the numbers will dwindle just because those puppies just won’t be born in the first place,” Goldberg said.

Goldberg said a stronger enforcement process is needed.

“I think it starts with knowing you can do something about it, because what happens is people call 311 and nothing happens, they get dispirited by this,” Goldberg said.

Quicker and more meaningful responses by city agencies could turn things around, he maintains.

“I think the second those mechanisms are there, you’ll get a very engaged public, because people really do care,” Goldberg added.

NYC legislators aimed to combat backyard breeding in 2024 with laws which makes selling animals out of a person’s private residence illegal. Moreover, pet shops in the city are currently banned from selling dogs, cats, and rabbits.

In response to Goldberg’s petition, users on neighborhood platform ‘Nextdoor’ decried the current backyard breeding response practices.

Nextdoor user Richter N. commented on the overpopulation of NYC shelters, saying “It’s really a shame....We have to direct the anger towards the breeders and possibly this state.”

Gigi Forman, another Nextdoor user, said the penalties should be higher than just fines, responding to the petition.

Forman wrote. “Backyard breeders of dogs and cats should be heavily fined and jailed for 30 days. They couldn’t care less about the animals after they get rid of them, no matter where they end up.”

“I hope they do something,” Lissette Guzman posted on Nextdoor. “Its so sad! These pets make our days better! We can never replay them for their unconditional love! 311 is joke!”

Moving forward, Goldberg said she is hoping to receive over 1,000 signatures before bringing the petition to the attention of the ACIS and the NYC Council.