Public Health Law § 1311 · Title 1. General Provisions; Control and Abatement
Hand washing facilities at certain public establishments featuring animals
Text — Law content up to date as of October 9, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
§ 1311. Hand washing facilities at certain public establishments featuring animals. 1. All public establishments including, but not limited to, carnivals, fairs and amusement parks, as such terms are defined in section eight hundred seventy-c of the labor law, farms, and farmers' markets, as such term is defined in section two hundred sixty of the agriculture and markets law, which feature displays of live animals that patrons may reasonably be expected to come into physical contact with for the purpose of touching, holding or petting shall provide hand washing or hand cleansing facilities for such patrons. Hand washing or hand cleansing facilities may be temporary or permanent fixtures and shall include one or more of the following: soap and running water; anti-bacterial fluids, foams or gels; or anti-bacterial or antiseptic wipes or towels.
2. Signs shall be conspicuously posted and shall state in a clear and legible typeface, the following: "Animals may carry germs and bacteria that can cause disease to people. It is strongly recommended that persons wash or cleanse their hands after touching, holding or petting the animals." Such signs shall also indicate where the hand washing or hand cleansing facility is located.
3. The commissioner may make rules guarding against the spread of bacteria and viruses at public establishments that feature animals as provided in subdivision one of this section, to persons employed at or to patrons of such establishments where such establishments are located outside the city of New York, and where such establishments are located within the city of New York, the commissioner of public health of the city of New York may make and enforce such rules.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Law content up to date as of October 9, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
- Official file
- https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/PBH1311
- Text hash
- sha256 d57035c3d0808d7bdc45899c7024acedf4a4dac63de3b867e3d841b5b84c3109
- Composed by
- gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.