Fighting To Keep Your City Pet

The desire to pass a bill to protect renters' pet owning rights brought Queens Councilwoman Melinda Katz (Katz! Pet bill! Hee!) and a number of passionate pet advocates and owners to City Hall yesterday. Manhattan Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer told the Times, "It's a hard city to live in. Some of us need children for companionship. Some of us need pets." Indeed: Apparently there are an estimated 2 million pets in the city, and only 1.9 million children. However, some critics are unhappy with the bill such as the HDFC president, Jordi Reyes-Montblanc, who says, "The way the legislation reads, they can have a lion or a tiger." Times reporter David W. Chen leaves us knowing that Mayor Bloomberg does not have an opinion of the bill (yet), nor does he have pets, though there are goldfish in his bullpen. Feh. Fish. If you can't hold them, they're not pets.

Gothamist on what New Yorkers name their dogs.