Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has signed legislation, S.3828/A.216, to increase health and safety standards in animal care for all pet dealers.

The legislation passed the state Assembly, 139-1, with both Assemblymen Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, and Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, voting in favor.

There was no debate on the floor of the Assembly.

The state Senate approved the legislation, 61-1.

The enhancements set clear guidelines for sanitary living enclosures and food receptacles, annual veterinary examinations, regular grooming, diurnal light cycles, and separate spaces for pregnant dogs which provide sufficient room to nurse and care for a litter.

“If pet dealers are going to profit from the sale of living animals, they should at the very least adhere to basic standards of decency and care,” Cuomo said in a recent statement.

“These new rules will create safer, more sanitary and more humane conditions for animals while they wait for a new permanent home,” the governor continued.

Under the new law, the minimum standards of care for all pets in the custody of pet dealers will be raised to require that primary enclosures for animals must be cleaned daily and sanitized every two weeks.

Isolation areas for ill animals must meet the housing requirements for healthy animals.