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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. |
Reform starts with a new ACC Board
Shelter Reform has argued that – to reform New York City’s Animal Care & Control – a new Board of
Directors is needed, a Board reflecting the creation of a new and independent charity with a true
commitment to our City’s homeless animals. Read more about our suggestions.
New York City is the greatest City in the world, but we have the ignominious record of being the most
underfunded and dysfunctional of municipal shelter systems.
Why should the ASPCA have a lock on a great board of directors?
With its headquarters in NYC, the ASPCA has the pick of our City’s makers and shakers to serve on
its Board: philanthropists, leaders in telecommunications, insurance, banking, industry, real estate,
and the law; and celebrities galore. All of these directors have demonstrated a real commitment to
animal welfare and a Rolodex to die for. See who the ASPCA Directors are.
Now, compare that illustrious ASPCA Board to the 7 men who serve as ACC Directors:
The “Ex Officio” ACC Directors
Dr. Thomas Farley: DOH Commissioner and ACC Chairman: a man who cares not a whit about
animals. Yet, there he sits, controlling the ACC’s budget as the DOH Commissioner, and then also
chairing the ACC’s new and unsuccessful fundraising committee.
Adrian Benepe: Commissioner of Parks, with a reserved seat on the Board. Yet, he never shows for
meetings, and … like Dr. Farley … doesn’t give a damn about animals.
Inspector Colon: The latest in a line of police officers from NYPD’s Community Liaison office.
Inspector Colon is just like all his predecessor cops on the ACC: he hasn’t a clue or interest in animal
welfare. He simply shows up at meetings, and looks to DOH Commissioner Farley to see how he
should vote.
The “Independent” ACC Directors
John O’Connor: a blood sport hunter, blowhard, and a self-described protector of Mayor Bloomberg’s
interests. Although a wealthy hedge fund manager, Mr. O’Connor has never generated a penny for
the ACC in all the years he’s served on the Board.
Bruce Doniger: Another Wall Street hedge fund player. Although he’s a decent person, Mr. Doniger’
s interests have nothing to do with the welfare of animals. Just like Mr. O’Connor, Doniger has never
generated a penny for the ACC, despite his Wall Street credentials.
Patrick Nolan: Penguin Books’ Director of Marketing, but in his three years on the ACC board, Mr.
Nolan has done nothing to market the ACC.
Dr. Jay Kuhlman: Dr. Kuhlman is a lesson in how a true animal lover is co-opted by the system. Dr.
Kuhlman is a veterinarian, and has served on the ACC Board for years. We have no doubt that he
truly loves animals. But all these years he’s remained silent while the DOH savagely underfunded the
ACC, fired and hired a stream of different Executive Directors, and disobeyed the law by refusing to
build shelters for the Bronx and Queens. Under Dr. Kuhlman’s watch, ACC animals continue to
suffer. If Dr. Kuhlman is an example of a true friend of animals, we’d hate to think what real enemies
are like.
Would Mayor Bloomberg ever appoint a qualified and committed animal advocate to the ACC
Board? Even if he took a chance on such a director, that person would be mighty lonesome on a
Board dominated by the DOH and sworn to keep the ACC’s dirty, dark secrets.
But there’s a solution, which should please Mayor Bloomberg and animal advocates alike.
S.O.S. to New York City’s Civic Leaders and Philanthropists.
Offer yourselves up to serve on a newly reconstituted shelter system board. Mayor Bloomberg
relishes proposed solutions that come at little or no cost to the City. Make that offer. How could
Bloomberg not accept?
It happened in 1980, when a group of individuals approached Mayor Koch with an offer he couldn’t
refuse: they would assume responsibility for the restoration and maintenance of Central Park. They
would do the City’s work, and essentially for free.
We need something akin to the Central Park Conservancy … but for our animal shelter system.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has echoed our call for that solution. Read what MBP
Stringer says, and sign and share his on-line petition.
It’s crucial that a major change take place now. There’s a game afoot in the City Council to kick on
down the road all of the ACC problems for another few years. All the while, ACC animals will
continue to suffer. Under the proposed Agreement (negotiated between City officials on the one
hand, and the Mayor’s Alliance and the ASPCA on the other), the City will throw a little money at the
ACC in exchange for saving millions of dollars by never having to provide animal shelters for the
Bronx and Queens.
But what this proposed Agreement really means is that the ACC will be the same-old-same-old,
and will continue to be run by unqualified individuals who serve the DOH.
S.O.S. TO MAYOR BLOOMBERG
Dear Mayor Bloomberg: Why not allow competent and inspired leaders to run the City's shelter
system?
And then we can bid a fond farewell to Dr. Farley, to Commissioner Benepe, to Lt. Colon, to John O’Connor, to
Bruce Doniger, to Patrick Nolan … .
Shelter Reform has argued that – to reform New York City’s Animal Care & Control – a new Board of
Directors is needed, a Board reflecting the creation of a new and independent charity with a true
commitment to our City’s homeless animals. Read more about our suggestions.
New York City is the greatest City in the world, but we have the ignominious record of being the most
underfunded and dysfunctional of municipal shelter systems.
Why should the ASPCA have a lock on a great board of directors?
With its headquarters in NYC, the ASPCA has the pick of our City’s makers and shakers to serve on
its Board: philanthropists, leaders in telecommunications, insurance, banking, industry, real estate,
and the law; and celebrities galore. All of these directors have demonstrated a real commitment to
animal welfare and a Rolodex to die for. See who the ASPCA Directors are.
Now, compare that illustrious ASPCA Board to the 7 men who serve as ACC Directors:
The “Ex Officio” ACC Directors
Dr. Thomas Farley: DOH Commissioner and ACC Chairman: a man who cares not a whit about
animals. Yet, there he sits, controlling the ACC’s budget as the DOH Commissioner, and then also
chairing the ACC’s new and unsuccessful fundraising committee.
Adrian Benepe: Commissioner of Parks, with a reserved seat on the Board. Yet, he never shows for
meetings, and … like Dr. Farley … doesn’t give a damn about animals.
Inspector Colon: The latest in a line of police officers from NYPD’s Community Liaison office.
Inspector Colon is just like all his predecessor cops on the ACC: he hasn’t a clue or interest in animal
welfare. He simply shows up at meetings, and looks to DOH Commissioner Farley to see how he
should vote.
The “Independent” ACC Directors
John O’Connor: a blood sport hunter, blowhard, and a self-described protector of Mayor Bloomberg’s
interests. Although a wealthy hedge fund manager, Mr. O’Connor has never generated a penny for
the ACC in all the years he’s served on the Board.
Bruce Doniger: Another Wall Street hedge fund player. Although he’s a decent person, Mr. Doniger’
s interests have nothing to do with the welfare of animals. Just like Mr. O’Connor, Doniger has never
generated a penny for the ACC, despite his Wall Street credentials.
Patrick Nolan: Penguin Books’ Director of Marketing, but in his three years on the ACC board, Mr.
Nolan has done nothing to market the ACC.
Dr. Jay Kuhlman: Dr. Kuhlman is a lesson in how a true animal lover is co-opted by the system. Dr.
Kuhlman is a veterinarian, and has served on the ACC Board for years. We have no doubt that he
truly loves animals. But all these years he’s remained silent while the DOH savagely underfunded the
ACC, fired and hired a stream of different Executive Directors, and disobeyed the law by refusing to
build shelters for the Bronx and Queens. Under Dr. Kuhlman’s watch, ACC animals continue to
suffer. If Dr. Kuhlman is an example of a true friend of animals, we’d hate to think what real enemies
are like.
Would Mayor Bloomberg ever appoint a qualified and committed animal advocate to the ACC
Board? Even if he took a chance on such a director, that person would be mighty lonesome on a
Board dominated by the DOH and sworn to keep the ACC’s dirty, dark secrets.
But there’s a solution, which should please Mayor Bloomberg and animal advocates alike.
S.O.S. to New York City’s Civic Leaders and Philanthropists.
Offer yourselves up to serve on a newly reconstituted shelter system board. Mayor Bloomberg
relishes proposed solutions that come at little or no cost to the City. Make that offer. How could
Bloomberg not accept?
It happened in 1980, when a group of individuals approached Mayor Koch with an offer he couldn’t
refuse: they would assume responsibility for the restoration and maintenance of Central Park. They
would do the City’s work, and essentially for free.
We need something akin to the Central Park Conservancy … but for our animal shelter system.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has echoed our call for that solution. Read what MBP
Stringer says, and sign and share his on-line petition.
It’s crucial that a major change take place now. There’s a game afoot in the City Council to kick on
down the road all of the ACC problems for another few years. All the while, ACC animals will
continue to suffer. Under the proposed Agreement (negotiated between City officials on the one
hand, and the Mayor’s Alliance and the ASPCA on the other), the City will throw a little money at the
ACC in exchange for saving millions of dollars by never having to provide animal shelters for the
Bronx and Queens.
But what this proposed Agreement really means is that the ACC will be the same-old-same-old,
and will continue to be run by unqualified individuals who serve the DOH.
S.O.S. TO MAYOR BLOOMBERG
Dear Mayor Bloomberg: Why not allow competent and inspired leaders to run the City's shelter
system?
And then we can bid a fond farewell to Dr. Farley, to Commissioner Benepe, to Lt. Colon, to John O’Connor, to
Bruce Doniger, to Patrick Nolan … .
