Going On Vacation? Pet Sitting is Illegal.

My Yorkshire is now over 15 years old. He’s still full of spunk but tires more than he used to, and gets stressed out more easily too. We used to board him at a cage free day care in town, and he loved it there. But he’s just not able to do it anymore. Fortunately one of the staff who used to work at the day care — whom he knows and likes — pet sits. So she’ll come stay at our home when we’re on vacation. It’s a good thing, then, that I don’t live in New York. Because pet sitting is illegal in New York City.

" Pet lovers are barking mad over a little-known city rule that makes dog-sitting illegal in New York. Health Department rules ban anyone from taking money to care for an animal outside a licensed kennel — and the department has warned a popular pet-sitting app that its users are breaking the law.…The health code bans boarding, feeding and grooming animals for a fee without a kennel license — and says those licenses can’t be issued for private homes."


As the general counsel for the Rover app — which matches consumers with pet sitters — put it, “If you’ve got a 14-year-old getting paid to feed your cats, that’s against the law right now… Most places right now continue to make it easier to watch children than animals, and that doesn’t make any sense.”

You can’t legally have your pet at home, and you certainly can’t trust United Airlines with it, it’s enough to make my sympathize with owners who claim their pets are emotional support animals so the pets can go away with the people and travel in cabin (since airlines otherwise limit the size of the animal, require it to fit under the seat, count it as a carry on, and charge a significant add on fee).

And yes the law has been enforced at least sporadically. Fines start at $1000.