By: Amy Brayfield

New York City Housing Authority buildings such as this one are were the dogn bans took place. These buildings are located throughout the entire city and house approximately 417,328 authorized residents in all.

For some pet owners in New York City, it’s time to choose between their pet and their apartment.

In May, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) effected a new pet policy, which banned dogs weighing more than 25 pounds and all dogs that are full or part pit bull, Rottweiler or Doberman Pinscher from public housing. While registered certified dogs are exempt from the ban, unregistered dogs must be removed from the premises.

According to the NYCHA, dog attacks and resident complaints were the primary reasons for the new policy.

The NYCHA announced its new policy via its April newsletter, giving residents of public housing apartments a 30-day grace period in which to register their pets with the agency. Pets registered during that period were exempt from the new guidelines as long as they fell within the original 40-pound weight requirement that previously existed. But because the old restrictions were only casually enforced, some residents have had pets weighing more than 40 pounds and others missed the deadline. Residents say they are feeling forced to surrender their pets.

According to the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, 113 dogs have been relinquished due to the ban. Of those 113 pets, 49 were euthanized.

This new policy has gotten strong response from animal rights activists.

“We oppose laws that discriminate against particular breeds or impose excessive weight restrictions,” said Laura Maloney, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) vice president of anti-cruelty. “This regulation unfairly discriminates against responsible dog guardians on both counts.”

The ASPCA and the Mayor’s Alliance have joined together to ask NYCHA to not enforce the ban, which affects approximately178,000 apartments.

New York’s pet policy may be one of the strictest, but it’s certainly not the only one. The Marines have outlawed Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and other large dogs from all U.S. Marine Corps bases. In Massachusetts, some subsidized housing doesn’t allow pets at all. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allows the owners and managers of public housing developments to place restrictions on what pets are allowed in their buildings, but there’s no clear guideline for what restrictions are reasonable. Outside the realm of service animals—which legislation supports in almost all cases—rules are determined by owners and managers with input from tenants.

Dogs like this Doberman Pinscher were one of three breeds to be totally banned from New York City Public Housing.

In other countries, policies may be even stricter. In Guangzhou, a city in China, new legislation enacted this summer made it illegal for households to have more than one dog. Citing the city’s high percentage of stray dogs and ongoing problems with rabies as its reasons, the Chinese government announced its new policy in April to widespread criticism.

As for New Yorkers, by August there were 4,792 dogs registered, according to NYCHA. Tenants who owned pets that violated the new policy were given written and verbal warnings. Thirty-two pet-related termination-of-tenancy cases are pending in New York City courts since May.

According to Jane Hoffman, president of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, basing regulations on a dog’s breed or size is problematic.

“I don’t want a dangerous dog out there,” Hoffman told “The New York Times.” “But doing if this way is wrong, and it’s condemning perfectly innocent dogs to death.”