| Shelter Reform Action Committee (SRAC) ShelterReform.org: Everything you ever wanted to know about the AC&C, but were afraid to ask. |
| TO: Members of New York City Council’s Health Committee CC: Sponsors of Intro 655 RE: Open Letter to NYC Council’s Health Committee and Sponsors of Intro 655 Last year the Health Committee considered the first animal-friendly legislation in years. Everyone in the room that December day watched as the Committee members registered their obvious disbelief and impatience with the testimony of Daniel Kass, a Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Health. Shelter Reform Action Committee interpreted your response to Mr. Kass’s testimony as a hopeful sign. Perhaps you were laying the groundwork to ask Mayor Bloomberg to remove the DOH from its control over Animal Care & Control Yet, here we are 9 months later with the Council set to pass a bill that will not only leave the DOH in control of the ACC, but effectively reward the DOH for years of gross mismanagement and neglect at the ACC. This bill came about when the Mayor’s Alliance and the ASPCA – with hat in hand -- approached certain City officials to ask for some kind of relief to deal with (quoting Jane Hoffman) the “crisis” at the ACC. Both Ms. Hoffman and ASPCA’s Ed Sayres – in describing the deal they subsequently negotiated – acknowledged that the City would not budge on creating the missing shelters in the Bronx and Queens. Rather, the City insisted that it be relieved of any legal obligation to build those shelters. Nevertheless, both Hoffman and Sayres have gone on record to say that those same shelters are still urgently needed. (NOTE: In contrast, DOH’s Daniel Kass says those shelters aren’t needed at all. But then, Mr. Kass can always be counted on to come out with some amazing howlers.) The bill’s supporters claim it will make “a tremendous difference” for NYC dogs and cats, is a “great step in the right direction,” and demonstrates the City’s “steadfast commitment” to abandoned and homeless animals. Anyone familiar with ACC conditions and politics knows this bill cannot live up to those claims. While the bill promises that $10 million will be given to the ACC over the next 3 years, those monies cannot make up for what’s actually needed after 17 years of savage underfunding. Equally important, any monies will be wasted if handed over to an ACC management hand-picked by the Mayor and the DOH. Nothing good will happen for shelter animals as long as the Mayor and the DOH have their boots on the ACC’s throat. As members of this Committee, you could expand the instant bill to address the core cause of the ACC’s failure: the DOH itself. You could recommend – nay, insist -- that the Mayor’s Office release the ACC from the DOH’s grip. Never fear; this would not leave the ACC in a vacuum. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has offered a viable solution: a private-public entity that would actually work ... modeled on the Central Park Conservancy. What’s certain is that if this bill passes as written, it will simply kick the ACC’s problems down the road for a few more years … past the 2013 Mayoral election. The DOH will then claim that things are going swimmingly at the ACC. (The DOH can always be counted on to say that things are going swimmingly at the ACC.) We urge this Committee and the Bill’s sponsors to refashion the proposed legislation into something that is effective and humane, not politically expedient. If this bill passes as is, animal advocates will continue to expose the DOH's cruel mismanagement of the ACC … which is the direct cause of all the disease, overcrowding, misery and death behind the ACC’s shelter walls. If the bill is passed as drafted, it will be a blot on your record. After all these years, now is the time for the City Council to do the right thing by the City’s homeless animals. We urge you to be heroes. Respectfully submitted, SHELTER REFORM ACTION COMMITTEE |
| Here's an open letter from Shelter Reform to those City Council members who have sponsored a controversial bill affecting the ACC. The Health Committee will hold a public hearing on the bill, Friday morning, Sept. 9th, 10 AM, at 250 Broadway, 16th Floor. |
