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"Thousands of Stray Animals Killed in City Shelter Shortage, say Advocates" (News and Comment))
Thousands of stray animals killed in city shelter shortage, say advocates
BY AMY SACKS and LISA L. COLANGELO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Sunday, March 9th 2008, 4:00 AM
Homeless dogs and cats are dying by the thousands because of the city's
broken promise to build animal shelters in Queens and the Bronx, advocates
charged Saturday.
"If the city followed the law, thousands of pets would be saved," said
Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens).
Last year, overcrowded city shelters took in more than 39,000 unwanted dogs
and cats, and euthanized more than 15,000 of them.
Many of those animals are killed because there is no place to keep them and
not enough people coming forward to give them new homes, officials said.
The city has been ignoring its own law, first passed in 2000, which mandates
that each borough have its own full-service animal shelter by 2002.
In 2002, the law was amended to extend the deadline to 2006. But no new
sites have been purchased or renovated since.
Gioia, who owns a German short-haired pointer, said nearly $12 million in
capital funds for the shelters is sitting in the city budget.
Animal advocates have long complained that the city Health Department fails
to fund services for stray animals properly - providing less than $9 million
a year in its contract with Animal Care and Control.
"Pet owners are suffering, pets are suffering," said Gail Buchwald of the
ASPCA, which helps with adoptions from city shelters.
Animal Care and Control - the only shelter in the city required to take in
all stray and unwanted animals - has sites in Brooklyn, Staten Island and
Manhattan, but only small part-time receiving centers in Queens and the Bronx.
Health Department officials have said they are working with Animal Care and
Control to find sites in both boroughs.
"We welcome suggestions for appropriate space as we recognize the need for
spay/neuter facilities in these communities, particularly in the Bronx," the
department said in a statement.
lcolangelo@nydailynews.com_ (mailto:lcolangelo@nydailynews.com)
Personal Comment: Like Rachel Gilman who commented previously on this article, I too am dismayed with the continual misuse of "stray" to describe the animals dying in our city shelters every day.
Most are NOT "strays" but owner abandoned PETS!
True, many people lie when dumping their own animals, saying they are "stray" in order to avoid paying an "Owner Surrender Fee."
But, facts are still facts.
Aside from this perpetual gripe, Ms. Colangelo (the Daily News writer) deserves high praise for putting the problem directly on the city for failure to build ENOUGH SHELTERS, as well as being brave enough to tackle the issues directly and honestly.
Few reporters these days have the guts to do that.
I am personally so sick of hearing leaders for the "Mayor's Alliance for New York City Animals" continually LIE to the public by promising "NYC will be no kill (for space) of adoptable animals by 2015." Reality IS perfectly healthy and adoptable animals (like the dog pictured above) GET SICK in these overcrowded shelters every day and then are killed for so-called "illness."
The lies, distortions and exaggerated promises have to STOP so we can deal with the realities and FOR GOD'S SAKE, BUILD A FULL SERVICE SHELTER IN EVERY BOROUGH!
Until, that is done then regard all self-serving "promises" of "No Kill" to be total and outright lies. -- PCA
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I have run into the co-author of that piece, Amy, a number of times in our neighborhood Small Dog Run. She talked about doing research for the piece and was very familiar with our city shelter system.
Because amongst all the pugs and chuihuahuas and poodles we are always the only two with mixed-breed, adopted dogs, we have ended up talking. The nearby Run for the larger dogs has a more eclectic group. Amy said to me last week, "These seem like intelligent people. Why don't they adopt?"
Really, this is the sad thing, because we don't lack for animal lovers in our country. People MUST have a certain kind of dog, or they want to know where their dog has come from (I hear that one a lot), or they decide that any animal ending up in a shelter must be trouble.
People just close their eyes and ears and hearts to all those animals. There truly needs to be more education about this. "Why don't they adopt" indeed. -
I received a response from the author-Lisa Colangelo. Literally two minutes after I sent my email.....She wrote me a lovely reply, saying that she is open to suggestions and that she has written about shelter pets for a long time, and I suggested that she read Patty's blog...Patty is the best resource.
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Thanks to Cong. Gioia for his truthful comments and concern, as well. This kind of reportage may be only a tiny ray of light, but we need to be glad of it and try to expand upon it, as the poster suggests.
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Hi Patty. I just wanted to share what I wrote to Daily News reporter in an email just now and I encourage others to do the same!!!:
Thank you so much for caring enough to write about the HEALTHY shelter animals that are euthanized every day. It is the city's dirty secret--we are talking about puppies, kittens, pregnant dogs and cats.......All being killed for lack of space.
My only concern with your article is that most of the pets at the shelters are not "strays," but are "owner surrendered" pets that people dump at the shelters for the following reasons: "moving, no time, new baby or allergies."
What would really make a fantastic article in the future is writing about how many people dump their loving pets....They treat the shelters as if they are dumping grounds....Especially breeders who breed and then dump the mother dogs with their hanging nipples at the shelters. And many folks bring their family pets to the shelter and claim that the animal is a "stray" to avoid paying a surrender fee.
So you end up with all of these depressed, formerly owned, house trained dogs and cats at the shelters. There are more owner surrendered dogs and cats there then there are strays. Owning a pet is a privlidge, not a right, and if you could ever talk about this, that would be so wonderful.
I successfully fostered five shelter dogs last year, all who were house trained, yet some of which were listed as "strays."
Now we need reporters to write about what really happens-The fact that peole are dumping their pets left and right during holidays and vacations and treating animals as if they are disposable.
Thank you for bringing attention to the shelter crisis though in general.
Sincerely,
Rachel Gilman
3/11/08 5:26 PM
I think it is a combination of these reasons that those general population do not adopt:
1. Like you mentioned, there is this assumption that shelter pets are dogs and cats that misbehave and are too troublesome to deal with and are there for a negative reason by their own doing.
2. People have no idea how many other people dump their family pets and how breeders overbreed.
3. People still view pets as status symbols. I know a guy (whom I very much dislike) who had a $2,000 English Bulldog flown in from Sweden to NYC.....
4. Many people assume that all of the shelter pets will be adopted, or somehow spoken for.
5. Not many people know that there are breed specific rescues or about petfinder.com
6. People think that the ASPCA saves all of the dogs and cats in the city and they donate to the ASPCA (I say donate to the small rescue groups who deal with the bulk of pleas from the ACC...)