HELP STOP ACC’S EUTHANASIA “MISTAKES”
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| Shelter Reform Action Committee (SRAC) ShelterReform.org: Everything you ever wanted to know about the AC&C, but were afraid to ask. |
A 94-year-old grandmother was devastated to learn that her longtime companion, a 13-year-old collie named
Angel, had been killed at the ACC.
On the Friday of the 2009 Easter weekend, Angel had wandered away from its Queens home. The owner’s
daughter kept calling the ACC, asking if a dog matching Angel’s description was there, and each time was told “no.”
As it turned out, the ACC was wrong … dead wrong. Angel was indeed at the shelter. The dog had been picked
up in Queens the same day it had wandered off, and brought to the ACC’s Manhattan shelter. (Queens has never
had an animal shelter, and that’s why Angel ended up in a shelter so far from her home.)
Within two hours of its arrival, Angel was dead. The ACC had killed Angel.
When Angel’s family called again on Saturday, the ACC told her the dog was dead.
It appears that Angel was euthanized simply as a convenience to the Manhattan shelter. The ACC was going to be
severely short-staffed over the holiday weekend, and no one wanted to be responsible for caring for an old dog.
Killing Angel violated a host of internal ACC procedures.
When word about Angel’s death leaked, it made the local news. Read the article.
But very few people know what happened afterwards. The City’s Department of Health (which controls the ACC),
launched an investigation of ACC euthanasia practices.
This investigation was a rare event. Even though the DOH has always had the power to investigate ACC’s finances
and procedures, it simply doesn’t. DOH inspectors are notorious for being blind to problems at the ACC.
But this time the DOH couldn’t ignore that there was a problem, and it launched an investigation.
Over the next few weeks, volunteers observed ACC employees nervously preparing to be interviewed by DOH
representatives.
At the May 2009 Board Meeting, the ACC apologized to Angel’s owner. ACC Management assured Angel’s family
that they were investigating shelter procedures and, if necessary, safeguards would be put in place.
That assurance should have been enough. No one -- not even Shelter Reform Action Committee -- had reason to
doubt ACC Management’s commitment to prevent more euthanasia “mistakes.”
But ACC Management underwent a radical change just a few months later. The DOH changed the ACC’s top
leadership, appointing an “interim” Executive Director in October 2009. And October 2009 was precisely when the
DOH started slashing the ACC’s budget.
Then euthanasia “mistakes” started up again, and continue to plague the ACC.
These are samples of the “mistakes”:
 | killing the wrong animal; | |
| ignoring internal memos ordering that an animal NOT be killed; | |
| ignoring messages that the animal was going to a rescue group. |
Frustrated by this gross negligence, Shelter Reform served a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request on the
We asked for
ACC’s General Counsel responded: there never was an audit, investigation, study or report.
Really?
We reminded her that – at the very least – there had to have been a Euthanasia Report. After all, the DOH had
investigated ACC euthanasia procedures following Angel’s death. We also reminded ACC’s General Counsel that
she arranged the employee interviews for the DOH.
With her memory apparently refreshed, ACC’s General Counsel admitted there had been an investigation, but
described it as a vague “back and forth” affair with no final document or resolution.
Really?
We told ACC’s General Counsel that not long after the May 2009 board meeting, the ACC Executive Director told a
volunteer that the DOH had completed its investigation, ordered the ACC to implement a list of changes, and the
ACC had done so.
So, certainly there had been a final document … not some vague “back and forth” discussion.
The DOH gave the ACC clear marching orders and the ACC was to have followed them.
Frustrated by the ACC’s string of equivocations and misrepresentations, SRAC complained to the DOH’s General
Counsel.
Now, this is where it gets even more interesting.
The DOH’s General Counsel (Mr. Thomas Merrill) said the DOH would treat the FOIL request as having been
served on the DOH.
A few weeks later, the DOH’s Records Access Officer admitted that there had been an investigation, but said the
Euthanasia Report was “specifically exempted” under FOIL by a section of the NYS Education Law.
We looked at that statute. Funny thing. The statute deals with audits conducted of hospitals, clinics, dental
offices, etc. providing medical services to people.
We appealed to the DOH’s General Counsel, noting that the defense was spurious: the ACC does not provide
medical care to people.
Undeterred by his responsibilities as an officer of the court, Mr. Merrill refused to produce the Euthanasia Report,
claiming it was exempted under FOIL as
| “a non-final agency determination,” | |
| a “quality assurance investigative report,” and | |
| “recommendations to AC&C are reflective of pre-decisional deliberative material that may be | |
| lawfully withheld…” |
“Non-final”? “Recommendations”? “Pre-decisional deliberative material”?
There’s a perfect word for Mr. Merrill’s defenses, but we’ll tone it down: hogwash.
| There was a final Euthanasia Report; |
| The DOH ordered the ACC to implement specific safeguards and procedures; and |
| The ACC had done so. |
Despite the Euthanasia Report, euthanasia “mistakes” keep mounting as the ACC spirals into chaos as it lacks
Even if the Euthanasia Report may prove embarrassing to the ACC and the DOH, possible embarrassment is no
exemption to FOIL discovery.
Moreover, we believe there’s another important lesson to be revealed from the Euthanasia Report. Euthanasia
“mistakes” aren’t the ACC’s only killing problem. We believe the ACC breaks the law by allowing unqualified people
to perform euthanasia.
New York State imposes strict requirements on who may insert a needle filled with sodium pentathol into a dog or
cat. New York State also imposes strict requirements on who safeguards the sodium pentathol.
We believe the ACC often ignores these legal requirements.
As long as the ACC makes euthanasia “mistakes” (as in “Oops, I killed the wrong dog.”) and allows the wrong
people to do the killing (as in “anyone with a needle”), then all euthanasia at the ACC must stop until the ACC gets
its house in order.
Not only should animal advocates be able to study the Euthanasia Report, but so, too, should the following people
or entities:
| The City Comptroller. | |
| The ASPCA | |
| The New York City Council | |
| The State Board for Veterinary Medicine | |
| Veterinary Medical Association of NYC |
Shelter Reform should not have to jump through legal hoops, wasting time and money to sue for production of a
Please contact the following persons to demand
an immediate halt to ACC’s euthanasia “mistakes”
Here is a sample letter to send, and below that, a proposed list of addressees:
SAMPLE LETTER
RE: Stop the Euthanasia “Mistakes” at NYC’s Animal Care & Control
New York City’s Animal Care & Control continues to kill animals by “mistake” and allows uncertified people to do the
killing.
This is not a new problem. It was supposed to have stopped two years ago. That was when the City’s Department
of Health (DOH) investigated how the ACC goes about killing animals, and discovered a lot of problems. They
finalized their investigation, including a list of things they told the ACC to do to fix the problem (the “Euthanasia
Report”).
Unfortunately, the ACC continues to kill animals by “mistakes,” such as by:
| killing the wrong animal; | |
| ignoring orders that an animal NOT be killed; and | |
| ignoring messages that the animal is to go to a rescue group. |
These “mistakes” amount to gross negligence.
Equally important, there is reason to believe that the ACC violates New York State law by allowing uncertified
in charge of the lethal drug. Given the ACC’s ever-shrinking employee numbers, there is clear reason to believe
the ACC violates the law. Only a veterinarian or a “certified euthanasia technician” may kill an animal. At the ACC,
there are so few veterinarians that they assign non-vets to perform the killing. But are these employees “certified
euthanasia technicians”?
The Euthanasia Report is a roadmap to what’s wrong in ACC’s euthanasia rooms.
Both the DOH and the ACC refuse to produce the Euthanasia Report, however, claiming it is exempt under FOIL
because it was a “non-final” document.
There’s nothing “non-final” about that Report. The DOH completed its investigation and listed the specific steps
the ACC had to take to correct the “mistakes.”
Will you demand that the DOH and the ACC produce the Euthanasia Report?
Will you demand that the ACC implement the Euthanasia Report’s directions?
Will you demand that the ACC stop all euthanasia until it has put its house in order? No more euthanasia
“mistakes.” No more uncertified employees doing the killing.
Will you help?
Signed:
________________
Your Name
________________
Your Address and EMail
Mr. Thomas Merrill, DOH General Counsel tmerrill@health.nyc.gov
Dr. Thomas Farley, DOH Commissioner and Chairman of the ACC Board tfarley@health.nyc.gov
Julie Bank, ACC Executive Director JBank@nycacc.org
(Until July 1, 2011) Dr. Stephanie Janezcko, ACC “Interim” Director of Operations sjaneczko@nycacc.org
Dr. Jay Kuhlman: “independent” ACC Director SJKuhlman@aol.com
Bruce Doniger: “independent” ACC Director BBDoniger@yahoo.com
Assembly member Micah Kellner KellnerM@assembly.state.ny.us
Assembly member Linda Rosenthal c/o Chief of Staff, Lauren Schuster schusterl@assembly.state.ny.us
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer: BP@manhattanbp.org
Mayor Michael Bloomberg MBloomberg@cityhall.nyc.gov
Comptroller John C. Liu audit@comptroller.nyc.gov
NY State Board of Veterinary Medicine vetmedbd@mail.nysed.gov
Veterinary Medical Association of NYC vmanyc@aol.com
ASPCA Humane Law Officers humanel@aspca.org
Christine Quinn, City Council Speaker SpeakerQuinn@council.nyc.ny.us
Gail Brewer, City Council Member GBrewer@council.nyc.gov
Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, Chairman, NYC Council Health Committee arroyo@council.nyc.gov
[A]ll audits, investigations, studies, and/or reports conducted, created, and/or issued by the City's
Department of Health (DOH) regarding the qualifications, supervision, quality control, protocols,
licensing, administrative procedures, and/or certification of AC&C personnel performing or involved
with (a) spay/neuter surgeries; (b) general surgery; and (c) euthanasia.
Department of Health (DOH) regarding the qualifications, supervision, quality control, protocols,
licensing, administrative procedures, and/or certification of AC&C personnel performing or involved
with (a) spay/neuter surgeries; (b) general surgery; and (c) euthanasia.