New York’s Animal Control Crisis
By Lynn Pacifico
Butch, above, and Goliath, below. Photos from Must Love New York Dogs – Saving NYC DOGS.
On September 13th I attended New York’s City Council’s hearing on New York’s Animal Care and Control, my fourth city meeting about NYACC this year. These oversight meetings are being held because city shelters kill adoptable animals and New Yorkers want the killing stopped. So that their deaths won’t be in vain, I write this in memory of Goliath and Butch, young, healthy, dogs with great behavior ratings, who were recently killed.
NYACC protocols create problem behaviors in the dogs they are paid to care for, such as getting too excited when getting out of their cage and refusing to return to it, alligator rolling or biting the leash. NY’s shelter system, with its billion dollar budget, then kills the dog for misbehaving. If a dog gets kennel cough, which is the equivalent of a cold, it is killed. Usually 30% to 40% of animals do not make it out alive. Lately, it is more like 50%. Most dogs survive our care system due to the hard work of volunteers and rescue groups.
Pets are in shock after losing their family and home. Heartbroken, confused and terrified in the shelter, they watch ceaselessly for a familiar face. They tremble, cry, refuse to eat, and cower at the back of their cage. Due to lack of space, planning and proper care, dogs suffer in small pop-up crates 23 1/2 hours a day. How is this allowed to continue when there are actions that can stop this?
Many cat rescuers showed up to the city council meeting wearing green “I Heart Cats” shirts. Earlier this summer, at the Department of Health NYACC oversight hearing in Queens, it was stated that thousands of kittens are brought into the shelter during kitten season. Seventy five percent of animals entering the shelters are unaltered, yet the city has no spay/neuter programs.
One frustrated and exhausted vet broke down in tears, unable to speak during her testimony, explaining how, even with working for free on her days off, there are too many pets in need. Animal-loving New Yorkers’ taxes pay for the capture, incarceration and execution of innocent animals, many are lost family pets and full breed dogs. Feral cats and puppy breeders, who rake in profits, feed the pipeline leading to shelter kill rooms. Yet, the city doesn’t fund the volunteer feline trap, spay and release programs, nor send veterinarian clinic buses offering free spay and neuter into neighborhoods.
Mayor Adams has set aside money for a jobs creation initiative. Hire dog walkers. Rent storefronts around the city for small “overflow” shelters to get pets seen and increase adoption, fostering and jobs. To help keep pets in their homes, the city can promote knowledgeable dog ownership with free “ask the trainer” programs and training classes, with well-behaved dogs earning Obedience Certificates.
Too many dogs are given up due to housing pet restrictions. Offer tax abatements to landlords who allow dogs with Obedience Certificates. The same with NYCHA housing. That children, who love their pets, often their best friend, are forced to abandon them for housing is cruel all around.
One hundred fifty people signed up to testify on the 13th, but many like myself, turned in their testimony and left after waiting hours in the packed Council Chamber. At each meeting, highly paid NYACC bureaucrats spoke about how they are updating shelters and opening new ones. At the same time, a recent photo of an unwalked dog sitting in his own waste, in a filthy cage at the new shelter in Queens, caused outrage. Nothing changes.
NYC’s animal care failure does not speak well for New York. The lack of support from the Department of Health added to the complacency of shelter officials, maintains the underfunding, understaffing, overcrowding and cruel high kill rate that New York’s Animal Care and Control is known for. A separate animal care agency should be set up. We need an emergency intervention and an overhaul in order to stop killing animals who need safety and care. For sweet Goliath and Butch.
Lynn Pacifico, a fourth generation Villager, dog and parks activist, writes about New York City dogs.
