SITTERS ON A TIGHT LEASH

NYC dog regs kill jobs: labor sec’y

New York City’s nutty requirement that dog sitters get licenses has caught the attention of US Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, who singled it out Thursday as an example of local regulations gone haywire.

“I noticed New York City now requires dog sitters to be licensed,” Acosta said in an interview.

“And they’ve actually started prosecuting individuals for illegal dog-sitting. I will point out that you don’t need a license to baby-sit, but you do need a license to dog-sit. So you wonder are all these licenses necessary.”

Acosta is trying to get states and cities to eliminate unnecessary regulations that he believes hurt the economy.

The city Health Department prohibits private pet sitters outside a licensed kennel and has cracked down on the popular dog-sitting app Rover, which works much like Uber by connecting pet owners with pet sitters.

A dog-sitting permit costs $70 for a “small animal-boarding establishment permit” and an additional $39 for an animal-care and handling course.

Acosta said the unnecessary regulation is part of a troubling national trend.

“There was a time not too long ago when only about 1 in 20 jobs required a license,” he said. “Now more than 1 in 4 jobs in America require a li

cense.”

“Soon it will be [that] to be a journalist you’ll have to have a license,” Acosta quipped. “Fortune tellers in Maryland need a license.”

The mayor’s office insisted the city isn’t trying to regulate dog walkers.

“The secretary doesn’t know what he’s talking about. We don’t regulate or enforce against pet sitters or dog walk- ers,” said City Hall spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie.

But she pointed out that it’s illegal to operate a commercial kennel in your home in the city.

Acosta warned that unnecessary licenses create barriers for employment and hinder job mobility.

He said the problem is particularly acute for military spouses who move regularly but their occupational certification from one state is not recognized in another.

“If licenses are unnecessary, states should eliminate them; if licenses are needed, states should streamline them; and states should consider honoring each other’s licenses when it makes sense to do so,” he said.

I will point out that you don’t need a license to baby-sit, but you do . . . to dog-sit. — US Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta (left)