Rescue Groups, Struggling to work AROUND the AC&C’s failures

In an attempt to repair his reputation as ASPCA’s President, Ed
Sayres boasted that, under the ASPCA’s watch, NYC has become
the “most collaborative city” in the U.S. in saving shelter animals.
What Sayres should have admitted is that the AC&C looks to
rescue groups to do the AC&C’s job: saving animals, nursing them
to help, and trying to find them permanent homes. The AC&C just
sits by while others do its job.

The Mayor’s Alliance organizes rescue groups: By 2002
relations between the AC&C and its rescuers and volunteers had
become so toxic that the AC&C locked out both groups. The
Mayor’s Alliance stepped in, promising to turn NYC into a “no kill”
community by 2008 using grant monies from The Maddie’s Fund.
Mayor Bloomberg and the DOH couldn’t have been happier.
Without a penny on the City’s part, the Alliance promised to do all
the hard work.

The problem is that rescuers alone can’t fix the AC&C. All they
can do is try to workaround the AC&C’s failures. Yes, kill numbers
have decreased since the Alliance went into effect in large
measure due to rescuers pulling shelter animals. But by the time
the animals reach rescue, they have been made good and sick
by the AC&C. In fact, conditions AT the AC&C have only gotten
worse over the years.

This is not the model to reform a shelter system. It’s a boot-of-the-
pants workaround…placing undue burdens on rescue groups.

It’s time to reform the AC&C itself.