Cuomo signs dog bill, vetoes cat bill

Restaurant owners can now allow you to bring dogs on their outdoor patios under a bill signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week.

Under the new law, restaurants can elect to allow patrons to bring their dogs into outdoor dining areas, but only if there's a separate entrance that doesn't require the animal to walk indoors or where food is being prepared.

The new law, one of 39 Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved late Monday, took effect immediately. He rejected 22 bills, including one that would have directed state funds to programs that trap, neuter and release feral cats.

Prior to Monday, the state's health code had prohibited non-guide dogs from entering outdoor patios and decks at restaurants.

Now, dogs are permitted, but only if certain conditions are met.

Along with having an outdoor entrance, a participating restaurant must also have "reasonable signage" signaling pet dogs are allowed. Dogs must be on a leash.

Dogs are still prohibited from sitting on chairs, benches, seats and "other fixtures." If the dog is served water or food, it must be in a single-use container.

And if a dog -- ahem -- does its business, the law requires it to be cleaned up.

"Surfaces that have been contaminated by dog excrement or other bodily fluids shall be cleaned and sanitized," the law says.

When it comes to feral cats, Cuomo weighed in against the surprisingly controversial bill, which had been at the center of a late-session flurry of lobbying before lawmakers left the state Capitol in June.

The rejected bill would have taken funds from state dog license fees and directed them toward non-profits dedicated to neutering feral cats, which have become an increasing problem in many upstate towns and cities.

In vetoing the bill, Cuomo suggested the programs may actually be illegal. He pointed to the state Agriculture and Markets Law, which prevents dog and cat shelters from releasing an animal other than by adoption or to an owner claiming it.

"(The) prevailing science suggests that (trap, neuter, release) programs are not guaranteed to reduce feral cat populations, and, even if they do, may take many more years to do so than existing programs," Cuomo wrote.

(File photo by Annette Lein / Democrat and Chronicle)