Designates May of each year as "Pet Appreciation Month" and third full week of May of each year as "Pet Adoption Week" in New Jersey.

AJR182

ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION

No. 182

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MAY 14, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

SYNOPSIS

���� Designates May of each year as �Pet Appreciation
Month� and third full week of May of each year as �Pet Adoption Week� in New
Jersey.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

A Joint
Resolution
designating May of each year as �Pet Appreciation Month� and
the third full week of May of each year as �Pet Adoption Week� in New Jersey.

Whereas,

Animals and pets have contributed to American life in countless ways since
before our country�s founding, as evidenced in colonial-era art and written
record; and

Whereas,

Thousands of New Jersey households currently own, care for, and enjoy the
companionship of pets, including dogs, cats, horses, reptiles, and other
animals; and

Whereas,

Pet ownership often offers increased opportunity for exercise, through regular
walking and playing, which has been shown to have significant physical health
benefits, including a decrease in blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and
triglyceride levels; and

Whereas,

Bonds between a pet owner and their animal can contribute positively to mental
health and mood by decreasing feelings of loneliness and stress, and by
offering opportunities for socialization; and

Whereas,

Observation of a �Pet Appreciation Month� would provide pet owners with an
additional reason to celebrate their pets and the enrichment their pets bring
to their lives; and

Whereas,

Loving New Jersey households welcome thousands of pets to their new �forever
homes� each year, but more adopters are needed to alleviate stress on animal
shelters and rescues; and

Whereas,

Many well-behaved and friendly pets are abandoned or relinquished to animal
shelters and rescues for reasons that are not attributable to the animal, but
are due to issues under human control, such as the residential movement of
families, the need for families to comply with rental housing rules, or the
need for families to accommodate busy work schedules or new babies; and

Whereas,

According to the New Jersey Department of Health�s voluntary 2019 Animal Intake
and Disposition Survey, approximately 81,199 animals were admitted to animal
shelters across the State in 2019, and approximately 9,136 of those animals
were ultimately euthanized; and

Whereas,

Best Friends Animal Society, a national organization and leader in the no-kill
animal shelter initiative, reports that only about 57 percent of New Jersey
animal shelters are no-kill shelters; and

Whereas,
Observation of a �Pet
Adoption Week� would help to raise awareness of the benefits of, and ongoing
need for pet adoption and pet fostering, and encourage the continued public
support of, and donation of items and funds to, local animal shelters and rescues
in the State; now, therefore,

����
Be It
Resolved
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� In
order to honor animal companions and promote pet adoption through shelters or
rescues:

���� a.���� May
of each year is designated as �Pet Appreciation Month� in New Jersey.�

���� b.��� The
third full week of May of each year is designated as �Pet Adoption Week� in New
Jersey.�

���� 2.��� The
Governor is respectfully requested to annually issue a proclamation and call
upon public officials and all citizens of this State to observe �Pet
Appreciation Month� and �Pet Adoption Week� with appropriate programs and
activities.�

���� 3.��� This
joint resolution shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This joint resolution
designates May of each year as �Pet Appreciation Month� and the third full week
of May of each year as �Pet Adoption Week� in New Jersey.� Pets have been a
part of American life for hundreds of years, and thousands of New Jersey households
currently own and care for a variety of pets.� Owning pets is shown to have
numerous physical and mental health benefits, and observation of a �Pet
Appreciation Month� would create an additional reason to celebrate the bonds
between a pet owner and their pet.�

���� While many loving households
welcome new pets to their homes each year, and, while support for animal
shelters and rescues continues to increase in the State, more adopters are
needed to alleviate the burden on these shelter and rescue organizations.� Well-behaved
and friendly animals are, too often, forced to rely upon animal shelters and
rescues for reasons that are not attributable to the animal, but are due to
issues under human control such as the residential movement of families, the
need for families to comply with rental housing rules, or the need for families
to accommodate busy work schedules or new babies.� According to the Department
of Health�s voluntary 2019 Animal Intake and Disposition Survey, approximately
81,199 animals were admitted to animal shelters across the State in 2019 and
approximately 11 percent of those animals were euthanized.� Moreover, according
to the Best Friends Animal Society, a national organization and leader in the
no-kill animal shelter initiative, only about 57 percent of New Jersey animal
shelters are no-kill shelters.� Observation of �Pet Adoption Week� would raise
awareness of the benefits of, and need for increased pet adoptions and pet
fostering, and encourage the continued public support of, and donation of items
and funds to, local animal shelters and rescues in the State. �