The Arizona Republic, Nov. 26, 2003
By Christina Leonard
For years, Ed Boks has pushed to make this a "no kill" community for animals.
The 52-year-old Scottsdale resident will now try to take his message to New York City - permanently.
On Monday, Boks resigned his post as director of Maricopa County's Animal Care & Control to accept the East Coast position. Boks has split his time between Phoenix and New York for the past five months.
His programs are credited with establishing the lowest animal euthanasia rate and the highest pet adoption rate in county history. His goal was to make Maricopa County a 100 percent no-kill area, meaning no healthy and adoptable animals would be euthanized.
The agency rescues about 60,000 dogs and cats per year. Of those, slightly more than half are adopted or returned to their owners.
County animal control officials estimate that about 10,000 healthy and adoptable pets are euthanized every year. And about 18,000 ill or aggressive animals are euthanized.
Despite protests that he would never leave Maricopa County until it achieved "no kill," Boks said the New York position could help elevate the discussion to a national level. He recently appeared on the Today show and has been interviewed by other New York media outlets.
"We have been shouting 'no kill' from the rooftops," he said Monday. "And the message is well received locally, but it really hasn't gotten out."
Boks, who has worked at the county for 20 years and served as director for the past five, called his decision "excruciating."
New York's animal care and control program has been struggling for years and is facing many of the same obstacles Maricopa County faced several years ago.
Boks hopes to replicate some of the county programs there.
Others in the animal care community said they wish him well.
"It's a wonderful opportunity for him, and it's also an exciting time for Maricopa County as we transition into new leadership," Erin Lopez, executive director of the Alliance for Companion Animals.
County officials will establish an interim team and conduct a national search to replace Boks, who leaves in January.
"Ed Boks, and his team, has been able to completely shift animal care and control from being the worst in the country to being one of the best," spokeswoman Julie Bank said. "We will miss him."
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1126boks26.html