| Shelter Reform Action Committee (SRAC) ShelterReform.org: Everything you ever wanted to know about the AC&C, but were afraid to ask. |
Late March 2011
At the AC&C’s January 2011 Board Meeting , AC&C Executive Director Julie Bank described a number of
programs initiated under her watch. Among those: a new Volunteer Program, a new Foster Program, and an
innovative adoption partnership with Petsmart.
Ten weeks have passed, and we thought it would be instructive to check on the status of those new programs.
VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
The AC&C’s need for volunteers is urgent. In response to drastic cuts made by the DOH to the AC&C’s
budget, the AC&C has slashed its employee numbers. As current Management explained, the AC&C must look
to volunteers to perform duties previously assigned to employees.
That’s why we were perplexed when, in June 2010, the AC&C, shut its doors to new volunteers. AC&C
Management explained they needed time to create an innovative program that would ensure volunteers were
properly trained and motivated to remain at the AC&C.
At the January Board Meeting, Ms. Bank announced that the new Volunteer Program was up and running and
“wildly successful.” She said there were over 200 new volunteers, and once they started transitioning into the
program, there would be “a whole lot more people” in the buildings. She displayed a chart showing that the
number of volunteers (the combined number of existing and new) would be 52 serving Brooklyn and 251
serving Manhattan.
Ms. Bank didn’t specify how many volunteers would actually be present inside the shelters: cleaning cages,
holding and comforting cats, walking dogs, counseling potential adopters, photographing animals, writing bios
for the animals, etc.
As it turns out … precious few volunteers are to be seen in either shelter. And as usual, the situation in
Brooklyn is the most troubling. Anyone familiar with the AC&C’s history knows that the Brooklyn shelter has
always lacked for volunteers, and as a consequence its animals have suffered the most. The reason:
location, location, location. The Brooklyn shelter is located several blocks from the nearest subway stop, in
the middle of the highest crime rate area in the City, and on a relatively deserted strip of Linden Boulevard.
Despite its undesirable location, Brooklyn has the greatest need for volunteers. It must care for far more
animals than Manhattan and Staten Island shelters combined.
Yet, Brooklyn continues to be a virtual wasteland for volunteers. Unfortunately, AC&C Management keeps
touting the program as an amazing success story. If the AC&C’s plan is for volunteers to take the place of
employees, no one can pretend that plan is working for Manhattan or Brooklyn. Relatively few dogs are
walked, cages are often filthy, cats are not held and comforted, and not enough animals are being
photographed.
Something must be done. Ms. Bank has stated that no one should criticize the AC&C without also offering
solutions. She’s absolutely right. Here are our suggestions to help the Brooklyn shelter:
(1) The AC&C should be loud, clear, and honest about the urgent need for volunteers in Brooklyn.
(2) The AC&C should launch a volunteer program targeted to people who live near the Brooklyn Shelter and
fast-track them into the AC&C. No more months of bureaucratic delays. Time is of the essence.
(3) To make the Brooklyn shelter more attractive to volunteers, the AC&C should encourage them:
 | To car pool. | |
| To share taxis to and from the closest subway station. | |
| If feasible, to use the city bus that runs along Linden Boulevard (a thoroughfare that spans | |
| Queens and Brooklyn). There is a bus stop near the Brooklyn shelter (located directly on Linden Boulevard). When it’s dark outside, the AC&C could arrange for an employee to escort volunteers to or from the bus stop to ensure safety. |
(4) A well-financed organization (or a generous patron) could provide a van and driver to ferry volunteers to
and from the Brooklyn shelter.
As for increasing and maintaining volunteers IN all 3 shelters, AC&C management needs to do a better job at
fostering team spirit, creating a welcoming environment, and having Management frequently IN the shelters --
leading and inspiring -- rather than issuing directives and e-mails from the administrative offices at Park
Place.
There seems to be far too much attention to advertising the new program as a success, rather than ensuring
it is actually successful.
PETSMART PARTNERSHIP
At the January Board meeting, Ms. Bank described the AC&C’s new partnership with the Petsmart store on
East 116th in Manhattan. This marked the first time a pet supply store had opened its doors to house, show,
and adopt out AC&C cats. Ms. Bank said over a hundred cats had already been adopted through this
program.
That was exciting news.
Unfortunately, the program was quietly shut down more than a month ago. We understand the reason was
illness in the AC&C cats. Anyone familiar with the AC&C knows that every animal entering an AC&C shelter is
immediately exposed to highly contagious diseases. For cats, the most prevalent illness is an upper
respiratory infection.
Even if AC&C cats didn’t show signs of illness when they were transferred from the shelter to Petsmart, many
of them were certain to get sick after arrival. All the Petsmart employees could do was to wait for the AC&C to
pick up the sick cats, bring them back to the shelter, where they’d be placed on a euthanasia list for “illness.”
To add to Petsmart’s dismay, the City’s Department of Health (yes, the very same Department of Health that
controls AC&C) began making more frequent surprise inspections of the Petsmart store and imposing fines
when their inspectors spotted sick cats. It proved to be an easy source of income for the DOH, but awful for
Petsmart’s reputation and the store’s pocketbook.
It’s ironic that the DOH – which forces the AC&C to house animals in disease-ridden former factories –
penalized Petsmart for attempting to help save AC&C cats.
No good deed goes unpunished.
As discussed below, there may be a way to revive the Petsmart partnership.
FOSTER PROGRAM
At the January Board Meeting, Ms. Bank said the AC&C was working on building a large and robust Foster
Program (which would be a subgroup of its Volunteer Program). She pointed out that “kitty season” was fast
approaching, and the AC&C needed to have its Foster Program up and running soon.
Kitty season is now here. So, we were pleased when, on March 18th, the AC&C announced it had filled a new
position: Placement Supervisor. Among the Supervisor’s duties would be oversight of Foster Care. The
AC&C also announced the appointment of a new Foster Coordinator. See the announcement at the end of
this article.
With the new Placement Supervisor and Foster Coordinator on board, we hope the AC&C will immediately
launch their new Foster Program. Not only could fosters care for litters of young kittens, they could also make
it possible for the AC&C to renew its Petsmart partnership. Here’s how.
The AC&C could follow the blueprint used by rescue groups that successfully display their cats at Petsmart
and Petco. When these groups pull cats from the AC&C, the cats are first placed in foster homes where they
nursed back to health. Once the cats have a clean bill of health, the groups transfer them to Petsmart and
Petco where the cats remain until adopted. The rescue groups are happy, and the stores are pleased to
provide a service to the rescue community. (NOTE: The rescue groups remain responsible for the cats’ care
at these stores.)
But there’s another important benefit from an effective AC&C foster program. By sending cats to foster
homes, the AC&C will have more cage space. With more cage space, the AC&C could re-open its doors to
stray cats. As you may remember, in October 2010 the AC&C announced it would no longer rescue stray
(non-feral) cats because of budget cuts. This was shocking news; rescuing stray cats has been a core duty of
the AC&C for years. The result of the AC&C’s decision is that thousands of cats have been left to suffer and
die on the streets. (All of us remember what a cruel Winter it has been.)
With a large foster network, the AC&C could once again rescue cats, relying on fosters to ease the
overcrowding while also easing the AC&C’s financial and space concerns.
If you’re interested in becoming an AC&C foster, please go to this link on the AC&C’s website:
http://nycacc.org/foster.htm Warning: it may take weeks for you to progress through the AC&C’s new
sequence of steps to becoming a foster: application, interview, enrollment in classes, taking the required
number of classes, and mentoring. However, in a few months you could be an AC&C foster, and that would be
good news for AC&C animals.
| Exciting News We are very proud to announce that we have hired our new Placement Supervisor, Ellen Curtis. Ellen has been a volunteer with AC&C for quite some time through NY Cares and then working directly with our new program since September 2010. She has been instrumental in our Adoption Counseling program and interviewing our new volunteers. Congratulations to Ellen as she starts on this new adventure. The Placement Supervisor is a new position that will bring all of our placement areas; New Hope, Adoptions, Behavior Assessment and Enrichment and Foster Care under one roof. She will be the supervisor of the staff and in-charge of the programming in all of the departments mentioned above. We are also happy to announce that Jen Reese, who currently works as the Feline Behavior Assessor at the Manhattan shelter, is moving into the role of Foster Coordinator. She will be beginning that role full time as soon as we fill the Feline Behavior Assessor role. If anyone is interested in the Feline Behavior Assessor position in the Manhattan shelter, it is available and will be posted shortly. If interested, please send your information and request to our HR Department at hr@nycacc.org. |
This announcement is from the AC&C's March 18, 2011 State of the Pack news letter
