Animal Activists’ Charge of a ‘Stranglehold’ on Adoptable Animals By Large Non-Profit Strongly Refuted By Agency Head
Board of Directors of Animal Care and Control to Meet Tuesday, June 21st
Two bills addressing animal shelter reform duke it out with supporters, detractors for both as time Runs Out on the 2010 New York Legislative Session on June 20th; Meeting of Board of Animal Care and Control of New York City (AC&C) on June 21st
The emotional subject of animal shelter reform while increasing the number of animals adopted rather than destroyed reached a fever pitch this week, as activists and legislators on both sides of the debate marshaled their forces for one last push before pivotal meetings at the city and state level begin.
“The Mayor’s Alliance has a stranglehold on who can pull the animals out of the AC&C and the number of animals that can be saved,” said Zelda Penzel, founder of the New York-based non-profit group Save Our Shelter Animals (S.O.S.), a self-described coalition of activists and rescue groups ‘working toward a No Kill New York City.’ “The Mayor’s Alliance for New York City’s Animals and Animal Care & Control of New York City control who and what rescue groups can get animals out of the shelters to groups where they would be saved.”
The Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals is a not-for-profit coalition of more than 150community-based rescue groups based in the New York metropolitan area called “Alliance Participating Organizations” (APOs.) Jane Hoffman has served as president and chair of the Board of Directors for the Alliance since its inception in 2002.
The majority of the funding for the Mayor’s Alliance comes from Maddie’s Fund, a national, multi-million dollar foundation started by billionaire software developer David Duffield. By following specific protocols, some of the Mayor's Alliance APOs, called "New Hope Partners", are selected at the discretion of administrators of the ACC to ‘pull’ animals from the city’s shelter system and are eligible to receive special financial and other support to get them adopted.
While many Mayor's Alliance APOs are "New Hope Partners", the ACC decides who receives "New Hope Partner" status, not the Mayor's Alliance. Nonetheless, activists like Ms. Penzel allege the Mayor's Alliance has influence on who receives "New Hope Partner" status from the ACC.
“The Mayor’s Alliance controls the purse strings with the money they receive from Maddie’s Fund,” Ms. Penzel alleges, “and they get to say who can and who will not be members of their ‘selected’ group to save animals’ lives. I think the conflicts of interest and obvious ‘gag’ rules implied in such a relationship are evident.”
Animal Care and Control of New York City is the city’s main shelter system. Funded by the Department of Health, AC&C is compelled to take in every abandoned animal throughout the city’s five boroughs, usually somewhere around 40,000 per year. The agency is an arm of the City’s Department of Health. While there has been a significant decrease in the number of animals euthanized by the AC&C due to overcrowding over the past several years, approximately one of every four animals taken in by the AC&C will be destroyed.
Ms. Hoffman of the Mayor’s Alliance strongly disagreed with Ms. Penzel’s sentiments.
“Stranglehold?”, Ms. Hoffman said in a statement. “Approximately 150 animal rescue groups and shelters who have the ability to responsibly care for and find good homes for the animals entrusted to them have been approved by AC&C as New Hope Rescue Partners. The majority of the New Hope Partners are also APOs. One-hundred fifty rescue groups and shelters work with the AC&C.”
Ms. Hoffman continued: “Stranglehold? The numbers speak for themselves. Last year 15,500 cats and dogs were transferred to approved New Hope Partners. And as far as the number that can be saved; add the return to owners and direct adoptions from AC&C to the public to the 15,500 cats and dogs transferred to New Hope Partners and that resulted in over 23,500 lives saved.”
Two Shelter Reform Bills Duke It Out for Passage In New York State SenateAs the volume on the shelter-and-rescue debate turns up on the City level, the divisive issue has made it’s way up to Albany. Two bills, similar in spirit but dissimilar in several key areas, are currently battling it out as the New York State legislative session comes to a close. However, with lawmakers’ hands already full with an eleventh-hour push toward a historic step in legalizing gay marriage and an extension of New York City’s rent regulations, it is unclear if the bills will make it to the floor before the session ends on June 20th.
A groundswell of vocal, community-based animal rescues as well as national allies, such as Best Friends Animal Society and Alley Cat Allies, have thrown their support behind the Companion Animal Access and Rescue Act (A.B. 7312/S.B. 5363) sponsored by Assemblyman Micah Keller (D-Upper East Side/Manhattan) and State Senator Joseph Robach (R-C-I, Rochester). Modeled after a similar law in California, “CAARA” calls for key animal shelter reforms while making it somewhat easier for smaller, independent rescue groups to obtain animals from larger shelters.
Another bill, “The Shelter Access Bill” (A.B. 5449/S.B. 5433) sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-88th District, Westchester) and State Senator Greg Ball (R,C, 40th District, Putnam County) also calls for animal shelter reform but additional provisions such as a public database of community-based rescue groups, is supported by the American Society for the Protection of Cruelty To Animals (ASPCA) in New York (see full statement in previous blog entry) the Mayor’s Alliance, and the Animal Law Coalition, a watchdog group for national and state-based animal laws.
Next: Exclusive interviews with Assemblyman Micah Kellner, Assemblywoman Paulin, and statements from the Animal Law Coalition and Maddie's Fund.
Links of interest: “CAARA” Law text: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A07312&term=2011
“Shelter Access Bill” text: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S5433-2011
Side-by-Side Comparison of Bills (summary by ALC, which supports the Shelter Access Bill) http://www.animallawcoalition.com/public-shelters/article/1739
AC&C Statistics Through April 2011:
http://www.nycacc.org/pdfs/DOH_Reports/2011/April/intake-outcome-2010_cats_dogs_v11.pdf
Friday, June 17, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
**BREAKING NEWS** ASPCA, Mayor's Alliance: "Shelter Access" Bill Would Protect Shelter Animals Better Than "CAARA" Bill
In what may be one of the first detailed, public statements issued by the ASPCA and the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals on the issue, New York Tails Magazine has today learned the agencies believe shelter animals in both the City and State would be best served under the provisions of Assembly Bill A05449, often called the "Shelter Access Bill", being supported by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and New York State Senator Greg Ball. The two agencies have recently been criticized for what some consider an extended silence on a competing bill of sorts, the "Companion Animal Access and Rescue Act" (A7312)which has recently gained large and vocal grassroots support.
New York Tails Magazine also had an exclusive interview with Assemblyman Micah Kellner today, sponsor of the aforementioned "Companion Animal Access and Rescue Act" (often called 'CAARA').
With the New York State legislative session scheduled to end June 20th, action may come quickly on either one of these bills.
The interview with Assemblyman Kellner is currently being transcribed and will be posted later, please watch this blog and our Facebook page for updates.
In the interim here is the full unedited statement obtained by New York Tails Magazine from Anita Kelso Edson, Senior Director of Media & Communications for the ASPCA:
Both the ASPCA and the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, a coalition of more than 150 animal rescue groups and shelters (including the ASPCA), are committed to working with NYC Animal Care & Control (AC&C) with the goal of ultimately transforming New York City into a “no-kill” community. While we are passionately optimistic about this, we also recognize there are serious challenges–including AC&C’s underfunding and lack of resources–to overcome before we can achieve our goal. Despite the hurdles that still exist, there has clearly been improvement over the past eight years.
In 2010, more than 44,000 animals entered our city’s shelters and rescue partner organizations, and of those, 32,000-plus, or 73 percent, were adopted, returned to owners or transferred to rescue. We recognize that 27 percent of these animals were euthanized, and that New York City’s homeless pet problem cannot be solved by transfers and adoptions alone.
The ASPCA gets to the root of the issue, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, by providing low- and no-cost spay/neuter surgeries. In 2010 we provided spay/neuter surgeries for more than 31,000 cats and dogs. The ASPCA’s mobile clinics are in all five NYC boroughs daily providing spay/neuter services to low income New Yorkers as well as rescue groups and shelters including AC&C. We also just opened a stationary spay/neuter clinic in Queens—focused just on animal rescuers and which is expected to increase our surgery capabilities by 10,000 animals per year, aiming toward a goal of 40,000 total surgeries in 2011 and hoping to ultimately decrease the intake number of animals in our city’s shelters.
The ASPCA is committed to our mission of preventing animal cruelty, both nationwide and in our own backyard, and continues to work hard to improve the lives of dogs and cats both in New York but also across the U.S. Our donors contribute to us with the expectation that we maintain a national reach in fighting animal homelessness and cruelty, and we are proud of the lifesaving work we have accomplished around the country with the support of our mission by donors, the public and local communities.
The ASPCA strongly supports shelter access legislation that includes essential safeguards ensuring rescue organizations requesting animals meet necessary standards of care and do not jeopardize the health and well-being of dogs and cats in their facilities. Unfortunately, some organizations end up warehousing animals in the name of saving lives, but which only results in neglect and abuse. Our recent field responses to such cases has been heartbreaking and reminds us that our mission requires that we place the best interest of the animals first to ensure adequate standards of care exist wherever animals entrusted to shelters are subsequently placed. We believe shelter access is essential, and the shelter access bill being proposed by NY State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and NY State Senator Greg Ball has the best interest of animals at heart.
New York Tails Magazine also had an exclusive interview with Assemblyman Micah Kellner today, sponsor of the aforementioned "Companion Animal Access and Rescue Act" (often called 'CAARA').
With the New York State legislative session scheduled to end June 20th, action may come quickly on either one of these bills.
The interview with Assemblyman Kellner is currently being transcribed and will be posted later, please watch this blog and our Facebook page for updates.
In the interim here is the full unedited statement obtained by New York Tails Magazine from Anita Kelso Edson, Senior Director of Media & Communications for the ASPCA:
Both the ASPCA and the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, a coalition of more than 150 animal rescue groups and shelters (including the ASPCA), are committed to working with NYC Animal Care & Control (AC&C) with the goal of ultimately transforming New York City into a “no-kill” community. While we are passionately optimistic about this, we also recognize there are serious challenges–including AC&C’s underfunding and lack of resources–to overcome before we can achieve our goal. Despite the hurdles that still exist, there has clearly been improvement over the past eight years.
In 2010, more than 44,000 animals entered our city’s shelters and rescue partner organizations, and of those, 32,000-plus, or 73 percent, were adopted, returned to owners or transferred to rescue. We recognize that 27 percent of these animals were euthanized, and that New York City’s homeless pet problem cannot be solved by transfers and adoptions alone.
The ASPCA gets to the root of the issue, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, by providing low- and no-cost spay/neuter surgeries. In 2010 we provided spay/neuter surgeries for more than 31,000 cats and dogs. The ASPCA’s mobile clinics are in all five NYC boroughs daily providing spay/neuter services to low income New Yorkers as well as rescue groups and shelters including AC&C. We also just opened a stationary spay/neuter clinic in Queens—focused just on animal rescuers and which is expected to increase our surgery capabilities by 10,000 animals per year, aiming toward a goal of 40,000 total surgeries in 2011 and hoping to ultimately decrease the intake number of animals in our city’s shelters.
The ASPCA is committed to our mission of preventing animal cruelty, both nationwide and in our own backyard, and continues to work hard to improve the lives of dogs and cats both in New York but also across the U.S. Our donors contribute to us with the expectation that we maintain a national reach in fighting animal homelessness and cruelty, and we are proud of the lifesaving work we have accomplished around the country with the support of our mission by donors, the public and local communities.
The ASPCA strongly supports shelter access legislation that includes essential safeguards ensuring rescue organizations requesting animals meet necessary standards of care and do not jeopardize the health and well-being of dogs and cats in their facilities. Unfortunately, some organizations end up warehousing animals in the name of saving lives, but which only results in neglect and abuse. Our recent field responses to such cases has been heartbreaking and reminds us that our mission requires that we place the best interest of the animals first to ensure adequate standards of care exist wherever animals entrusted to shelters are subsequently placed. We believe shelter access is essential, and the shelter access bill being proposed by NY State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and NY State Senator Greg Ball has the best interest of animals at heart.
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