Over the last decade, New York City has made huge strides in improving animals’ lives. Circuses can no longer perform with elephants and other wild animals, companion animal stores can’t sell dogs from puppy mills, the NYPD has formed a dedicated Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad, and, most recently, horse-drawn carriages are set to be banned from the city’s parks for good.
But things are about to get even better for New York City’s animals. In another sign that Mayor Zohran Mamdani is prioritizing animal welfare during his time in office, he has appointed Allie Taylor, founder and former president of Voters For Animal Rights (VFAR), as director of the Mayor’s Office of Animal Welfare.
The move follows Mamdani’s recent appointment of Siddhartha Sanchez, a lifelong vegan, to lead the city’s food policy.
And it makes sense. Without Taylor’s vital work, many of the major advances achieved over the last decade might not have happened. VFAR led the campaign to pass Intro 1233, the 2017 bill that banned the use of wild animals in entertainment. Many other landmark animal-protection laws passed during this period were also driven by the organization’s relentless campaigning alongside other like-minded nonprofits.
We spoke with Taylor, who will remain involved with animal political advocacy nonprofit VFAR in an advisory capacity, about her plans for the city and how she intends to make it an even safer, brighter place for people and animals.
VFAR
What does stepping into this role mean to you after a decade of advocating for animals in New York City?
I’m incredibly honored to continue that work from inside City Hall. When I founded VFAR in 2016, I wanted to make sure animals and the people who care for them had an active role in the political decisions that affect their lives. Together with advocates across the city and state, we helped pass laws that once seemed impossible, including banning the sale of foie gras and prohibiting wild animals in circuses, as well as securing public funding for spay-and-neuter for the first time.
“This role is an opportunity to help make animal rights part of the everyday work of city government. So much of what we’ve accomplished has come from grassroots organizing among advocates, rescuers, and community organizations working together. I’m excited to bring that same collaborative approach to City Hall and make sure their experience and ideas help shape the work of this office.”
What are your top priorities as director of the Mayor’s Office of Animal Welfare?
As a TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) cat rescuer in Brooklyn, I bring the experience of being on the ground—trying to find veterinary care, secure a foster home, or help someone on my block keep an animal they love. Those experiences shape what I want to accomplish here. I want to expand access to free and low-cost veterinary care, especially spay/neuter, with services accessible in every borough. We’re also working to make pet food available through existing human food pantries and support the rescuers who are spending their own money to care for community animals.
Beyond companion animals, what other animal-welfare issues will your office prioritize?
Another priority is strengthening coordination among city agencies, including relaunching the animal hoarding task force. Our office also works to protect animals exploited for food and entertainment, and of course, NYC’s wildlife. Pigeons, raccoons, turkeys, deer, and other wild animals share this city with us, and I want to ensure that city agencies have compassionate approaches to coexistence and clear ways to respond when wildlife is injured or in danger. That includes working with wildlife rehabilitators and considering how construction, maintenance, and other city operations affect animals and their habitats.
VFAR
How will working inside City Hall differ from pushing for change as an outside advocate?
Outside of City Hall, much of my work was about organizing people, building coalitions, and persuading elected officials to act. Inside City Hall, I can help connect that advocacy to the agencies, budgets, and day-to-day decisions that determine whether a policy improves or harms animals’ lives.
For example, it was a big step when the city passed the Backyard Breeder law, but implementation matters just as much. Who is responsible for enforcing the new law? Are there resources behind it? Those are the types of questions I can now help address from within the government.
How will you ensure that animal-welfare policies reflect the needs of New Yorkers across different neighborhoods and income levels?
I know how essential advocates, rescuers, and neighborhood organizers are in shaping policy changes, because I’ve been one. I want to maintain those relationships and make sure the people doing this work every day in their own communities have a say inside City Hall. They often see problems and solutions long before the government does.
For example, the city is funding spay/neuter services through Flatbush Cats in Brooklyn, an important new investment open to residents of all five boroughs. We can build on that work by expanding options closer to where they live. Listening to rescuers, rehabbers, and pet parents will help us make care more accessible to people balancing work, transportation costs, and family responsibilities.
I’m also focused on directing funding toward communities with the greatest unmet need, including the Bronx, and making animal care part of the support families already rely on. Providing pet food at existing human food pantries is one example: people should be able to get food for their whole family in one place.
VFAR
“I also want us to recognize that struggling financially does not mean someone loves their animal any less. Our policies should help people care for the animals they love. Pet-inclusive housing, food access, and veterinary care all have to be part of that conversation.”
At the end of your tenure, what do you hope will be fundamentally different for animals in New York City?
I hope fewer animals are entering NYC Animal Care Centers (the city’s animal shelter system) because their families cannot afford to keep them, and fewer cats are breeding on city streets (there are currently 500,000 community cats in NYC). I want affordable veterinary care and spay/neuter to be accessible in every borough, and I want rescuers to have meaningful support for the enormous amount of work they do.
I hope animal welfare is embedded across city government, in how we approach housing, public health, emergency response, food policy, and the treatment of wildlife and farmed animals. Animals are affected by decisions made throughout government, and their interests should be considered throughout government.
Ultimately, I want the office to prevent more suffering before it happens, and to build programs and infrastructure for animals that last well beyond my time in this role.
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
