Why remove the Mayor/DOH from control over the AC&C?
One SRAC goal remains constant: to remove the Department of Health (DOH) from its stranglehold over the AC&C. Although
the AC&C is technically a stand-alone 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, it has always been chained to the DOH. The DOH is
charged with protecting people’s health. The wellbeing of animals is a mere ancillary concern … requiring the DOH’s attention
only if an animal poses a health risk to people (e.g., rabies, bites, scratches). That is why the DOH will always treat the AC&C
as an afterthought. Nowhere in the DOH's mandate is there a requirement for the "care" of animals. Only "control."
So long as the DOH controls the AC&C, animals will suffer. And how does the DOH control the ACC?
The DOH writes the AC&C's bylaws, appoints its Board of Directors and Executive Director, owns the buildings the AC&C
occupies, writes the contract under which the AC&C operates, and sets the AC&C budget. The AC&C cannot negotiate with
the DOH. It’s a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. It is a fiction to say that the AC&C is an independent entity. The AC&C is a de
facto extension of the DOH.
Directors. Budget. Buildings. SRAC asks for your support
to address these three urgent issues that have always hobbled AC&C.
AC&C Directors: We must replace the current AC&C Board of Directors, all of whom owe their allegiance to the Mayor.
Three seats are reserved for the Departments of Health, Parks & Recreation, and Police (the so-called “ex officio” Directors).
As the Mayor selects all Department heads, these “ex officio” members serve the Mayor … not the AC&C animals. They avoid
doing anything that might embarrass the Mayor, and admitting that the AC&C is in crisis would be certainly embarrassing to
the Mayor. The Health Commissioner is the head of the AC&C Board.
The remaining 4 Directors are so-called “independent” directors. They are hardly independent, however. They, too, are
chosen by the Mayor’s Office.
That means that every Director – whether ex officio or “independent” -- is chosen for his/her loyalty to the Mayor. Not one
director is selected for his or her unwavering concern for the City’s homeless animals.
We need to force the AC&C to change its by-laws, to end the Mayor’s ability to pack the Board, and to place true animal
advocates on the AC&C Board.
Turning to the position of AC&C Executive Director, the AC&C Board (oh, let’s be honest, the DOH) announced it is
conducting a “nationwide” search for yet another Executive Director. The DOH wants someone willing to do whatever the DOH
dictates will accept a position without power or resources.
Embarrassingly, under Mayor Bloomberg, the AC&C has gone through 5 Executive Directors (in addition to 2 Interim Executive
Directors). Do the math and draw your own conclusions. The City would like to place the blame solely on the person they
select and deny all responsibility. Understandably, this constant disruption of leadership is not pretty, and is viciously
destructive to care of the shelter animals. Now, once again, we are tee’d up for yet another Executive Director to be
announced. The reality of finding the perfect Executive Director candidate is that any person of value knows about the low
salary offered, the restrictions (limited power and insufficient budget), as well as the job’s poor track record of longevity and
achievement. Certainly it would be ideal if this candidate came with a résumé attesting to a record of innovative and
successful shelter management. However, we all must be realistic and accept that this person can only do so much given the
cards dealt. SRAC will push for the best person for the job, but we should all know that the Executive Director position is
hopeless until we can remove the DOH’s shackles off AC&C.
BUDGET: The AC&C’s budget has always been disgracefully insufficient. It is a line item carved from the DOH’s budget.
When deciding the AC&C’s budget, the DOH does not calculate what the AC&C actually needs to operate. Instead, it decides
on a low-ball number that will divert the least amount of monies from the DOH’s core concern: healthcare services for people.
(Even the ASPCA, when it ran the City’s animal care and control, always complained about the insufficient budgets the DOH
handed it.)
Starting with an already inadequate budget, the AC&C must now suffer a more than 10% cut in its funding (with more cuts
threatened). The AC&C’s budget will be less than 87 cents per capita. The Humane Society of the U.S. advises that per
capita funding should range from $4 to $7 or even $8.
SRAC needs your help to broadcast the AC&C’s disgraceful budget, and demand proper funding for the AC&C.
BUILDINGS: The DOH owns every building the AC&C uses as shelters or receiving centers. The Manhattan and Brooklyn
shelters were former factories the ASPCA left behind in December 1994 when it walked away from its contract with the DOH.
These buildings were – and remain – unsuitable to serve as animal shelters. The long-delayed installation of a Heat
Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) system in the Manhattan Shelter will do little to stem the tide of the upper respiratory
infection virus (URI) infecting every square inch of that building. The Brooklyn shelter was “renovated” in 1997; yet, URI still
rages there.
With our City’s faltering economy, more and more homeless animals are making their way to these already overcrowded and
disease-ridden shelters. Why are the shelters overcrowded? Because the DOH refuses to create full-service shelters in the
Bronx and in Queens – defying both a City Council Law and a court order.
Back in 2000, the City Council passed a law requiring the DOH to have these two shelters up and running by 2002. Mayor
Bloomberg secured an extension until 2006.
We are now in year 2010, with no additional shelters in sight.
In September 2009, the rescue group Stray From The Heart won a court ruling ordering the DOH to get those shelters up and
running … now. The DOH (with the full support of its new Commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley) is filing an appeal from that
court order. The DOH has no intention of ever creating those shelters.
As the President of the ASPCA recently wrote: “Building these much-needed facilities would help decrease New York City’s
overall euthanasia rate by reducing crowded conditions, both in these two shelters and in those in other boroughs, and
provide opportunities for residents to adopt animals in their own communities.”
The City’s animal welfare community needs to complain, mightily and loudly, that the DOH must drop its appeal and create
those shelters ASAP. We should demand that the City Council enforce its own law requiring those shelters. (It was Speaker
Christine Quinn who brokered the extension until 2006 for Mayor Bloomberg to have those shelters up and running. Yet, she
has not demanded an oversight hearing investigating why the DOH and Mayor Bloomberg continue to defy the City Council’s
law.)
How you can help
Write, email and call the officials that can change things. Get contact information here
If you'd like to volunteer or contribute, or for more information, e-mail us at:info@ShelterReform.org
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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. |
