AC&C Funding
The Bulk of AC&C Funding Comes from the DOH.
The DOH sets the AC&C budget, a number that is NOT determined by what the AC&C actually needs to operate but rather what the DOH is willing to pay.
In several ways Dr. Thomas Farley, the current DOH Commissioner (and AC&C Chairman) has been the most aggressively hostile DOH Commissioner to the AC&C. When he became AC&C Chairman, he quickly made two things crystal clear: (a) the DOH would never build shelters in the Bronx and Queens; and (b) he would personally cut the AC&C’s budget to make it a bare bones operation.
Starved for money, AC&C management began to slice services. By 2011, he ASPCA said the AC&C was in “crisis.”
Dr. Farley didn’t care. And even if Executive Director Julie Bank cared, she has never complained or challenged the budget cuts..
The ASPCA and The Mayor’s Alliance walked into the perfect trap. Asking for more money for the AC&C, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had a quid pro quo. The City had to be relieved of its obligation to build shelters in the Bronx and Queens.
The deal became Local Law 59. Trying to put a positive spin on the deal, Ed Sayres of the ASPCA assured the public that the extra money would make a “tremendous difference” for the AC&C.
False!: Shelters continue to be overcrowded. Animals all get sick at the AC&C. Veterinary care is disgraceful. And the DOH remains very much incontrol of the AC&C. And Bank & Co. remain as the top executives.
The DOH sets the AC&C budget, a number that is NOT determined by what the AC&C actually needs to operate but rather what the DOH is willing to pay.
In several ways Dr. Thomas Farley, the current DOH Commissioner (and AC&C Chairman) has been the most aggressively hostile DOH Commissioner to the AC&C. When he became AC&C Chairman, he quickly made two things crystal clear: (a) the DOH would never build shelters in the Bronx and Queens; and (b) he would personally cut the AC&C’s budget to make it a bare bones operation.
Starved for money, AC&C management began to slice services. By 2011, he ASPCA said the AC&C was in “crisis.”
Dr. Farley didn’t care. And even if Executive Director Julie Bank cared, she has never complained or challenged the budget cuts..
The ASPCA and The Mayor’s Alliance walked into the perfect trap. Asking for more money for the AC&C, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had a quid pro quo. The City had to be relieved of its obligation to build shelters in the Bronx and Queens.
The deal became Local Law 59. Trying to put a positive spin on the deal, Ed Sayres of the ASPCA assured the public that the extra money would make a “tremendous difference” for the AC&C.
False!: Shelters continue to be overcrowded. Animals all get sick at the AC&C. Veterinary care is disgraceful. And the DOH remains very much incontrol of the AC&C. And Bank & Co. remain as the top executives.
Additional funding
Even if the AC&C ever had skilled fundraising staff, it could never raise the monies needed from the public. Because the first rule of public donations is that people don’t want to donate to a public agencies which operate on tax dollars.
Thus, the private donations that the AC&C attracts are minimal.
However, two outside organizations have provided some monies -- The Mayor’s Alliance and the ASPCA. But what they’ve donated over the years is far from what’s required to operate a major municipal shelter.
Thus, the private donations that the AC&C attracts are minimal.
However, two outside organizations have provided some monies -- The Mayor’s Alliance and the ASPCA. But what they’ve donated over the years is far from what’s required to operate a major municipal shelter.
Shelter Buildings
The DOH owns the two old factories the AC&C is forced to use as shelters in the Bronx and Queens. The ASPCA originally owned those buildings and when it walked away from its City contract, it sold the buildings to the DOH. However, the ASPCA was clear that the buildings either must
be radically renovated or, better yet, razed and rebuilt. The DOH was never going to waste monies doing either.
In Staten Island, Borough President Molinari has provided funding to create a new but small animal shelter for the DOH.
The DOH holds leases on the two storefronts the AC&C uses as “receiving centers” in the Bronx and Queens.
be radically renovated or, better yet, razed and rebuilt. The DOH was never going to waste monies doing either.
In Staten Island, Borough President Molinari has provided funding to create a new but small animal shelter for the DOH.
The DOH holds leases on the two storefronts the AC&C uses as “receiving centers” in the Bronx and Queens.
