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“New York City is facing a growing pet affordability crisis, one that is threatening to get worse,” writes Will Zweigart, director of the nonprofit Flatbush Cats. “Mayor Mamdani has an opportunity to make affordable vet care for all New Yorkers part of his affordability platform.”
Like many New Yorkers, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is currently undergoing allergy shots to bring a new feline family member into their new home. However, more than the exciting prospect of having animal lovers in Gracie Mansion, what New Yorkers actually need are staunch advocates to deal with an underlooked but critical aspect of the affordability crisis: New Yorkers can’t afford their pets.
New York City is facing a growing pet affordability crisis, one that is threatening to get worse. Already, millions of New Yorkers can’t afford basic veterinary care, driven by a broader housing and cost-of-living crisis which the mayor made the centerpiece of his campaign. Taken together, it’s no surprise that 50 percent of New Yorkers can’t afford a pet.
Shelters are overwhelmed by animals looking for homes, and the crush is not easing. New York spends far less on pet care than other cities: about $2.89 per resident, compared to $13.70 in Miami, and $14.78 in Dallas. The good news is, we know how to tackle this issue.
Mayor Mamdani has an opportunity to make affordable vet care for all New Yorkers part of his affordability platform. We can do this with proven, cost-saving policy solutions.
First, we must strengthen the city’s animal welfare infrastructure by appointing new leadership to the Mayor’s Office of Animal Welfare. Think of this person as a “Pet Czar.” Next, we need to make basic vet care affordable for more New Yorkers by using additional funding and capital projects for new clinics. Finally, we must expand community support and prevention with pet food pilot programs across the boroughs.
I didn’t set out to run a nonprofit. I was a neighbor trying to help a few cats on my block by trapping, fostering, and paying out of pocket for basic veterinary care. What I quickly realized was that the hardest part wasn’t convincing people to care. It was that care wasn’t accessible. Appointments were hard to get, prices were out of reach, and by the time help became available, small problems had multiplied into crises.
Over and over, I saw how good intentions collided with a system that intervenes too late and costs too much. Flatbush Cats grew out of that reality: not as a rescue reacting to emergencies, but as an effort to prevent them by expanding access to affordable, timely veterinary care.
Flatbush Vet, a program of Flatbush Cats, provides low-cost veterinary care every day and free monthly vaccine clinics for those who need them most. The clinic demonstrates what the city has failed to invest in: prevention that costs less than crisis response. This affordable care model is not theoretical. It is operating now, and it can be scaled across the city.
There are many, many serious crises that Mayor Mamdani will have to tackle in his term, and we understand the difficulty in prioritizing affordable pet and veterinary care at a time when people are struggling to make ends meet. However, pets are family. And the wealthiest city in the world should be able to afford care for beloved members of the family, whether they are fur covered, or not.
Mayor Mamdani has an opportunity to not just rescue one pet—he can build a better system for millions of four legged New Yorkers and their families.
Will Zweigart is the executive director of Flatbush Cats.