•As concerned New Yorkers and taxpayers
•As caring advocates for animals and a better New York
•As members of rescue groups and animal advocacy organizations
•As visitors to your city
We are appalled by the unconscionable number of animals killed, the horrific conditions in the shelters and the lack of accountability to the public by Animal Care and Control of New York City (AC&C). We therefore demand a new paradigm, with immediate changes in the shelter system and a new Executive Director who will implement these changes.
BACKGROUND
Despite the dedicated and persistent efforts of the Mayor's Alliance for New York City Animals, despite a major influx of funding from Maddies Fund, whose purpose is to bring about a NO KILL city, despite the heroic efforts of dedicated rescue groups and despite published euthanasia rates suggesting a reduction in the overall number of animals killed, nevertheless, the numbers of animals currently destroyed in the New York City shelters remain unacceptably high. Tens of thousands of healthy and adoptable animals continue to be killed for space and the public has been deceived about this. Recent press releases from AC&C have falsely stated that no animals were being killed for space, while at the very same time, alerts coming from AC&C personnel were begging rescue groups to save animals slated to be killed for space.
Animal Care and Control of New York City has resisted attempts by public officials and others to obtain information about specific conditions in the shelters. Moreover, AC&C has failed to follow its own mandated safety procedures, resulting in even more needless deaths:
•Animals have been killed who had rescues or adoptions lined up
•Animals have been destroyed who were incorrectly labeled sick or vicious
•Animals have been killed before their hold time has expired, in some cases even while family members were on their way to the shelter
In addition, the financial/housing crisis and recent New York City Housing Authority breed-specific bans with size/weight restrictions have only added to the tragic numbers of innocent, friendly, family dogs who are killed at AC&C.
PETITION
In light of the above and in light of the urgent need to appoint a competent, humane Executive Director for Animal Care and Control of New York City, who can set about instituting meaningful change and repairing the damage done, we urge the Mayor, the new Commissioner and the Board of Directors to focus their national search on someone
•who is fully knowledgeable about NO KILL and fully committed to working toward making New York a NO KILL city, without delay
•who has a proven track record advocating for animals, who has successful shelter experience and who has demonstrated a capacity for creative and innovative solutions
•who is committed to dialogue with the animal advocacy and rescue communities and who will implement an effective plan to immediately reduce kill numbers, increase adoptions and provide humane care for animals in the shelter system
We further demand full transparency and accountability to the taxpaying public by AC&C and the incoming Executive Director. Until now, information to the public has been withheld or difficult to obtain. FOIL/FOIA requests by public officials and the general public have been met with resistance and non-compliance. In addition, statistics published by AC&C have been questioned by experts and issues of statistical manipulation have been raised: e.g., animals have been labeled "sick" in order to show a reduction in the number of healthy animals euthanized. Specifically, we demand full availability to the public of published, monthly statistics on the AC&C website indicating the following:
•the number of animals killed for space
•the number killed for behavioral issues
•the number destroyed because they were identified as pitbulls or deemed feral
•the number killed because of illness or injuries
We also demand that monthly statistics be published on the AC&C website showing how many animals went to rescues, were adopted out, returned to owners; the number unclaimed; how many off-site adoption events were held each month; how many volunteers and how many staff vets on duty at each shelter.
Finally, information about animals who are slated to be killed should be made available to the public, well in advance of their kill dates. Currently, such information is distributed even to rescue groups at the very last minute, often making it difficult or impossible to save these precious lives.
The existing institutionalized impound and kill system in New York City is a disgrace and embarrassment to all New Yorkers and to animal advocates everywhere. This archaic system which allows for the killing of healthy, adoptable animals has continued as an acceptable solution and as the status quo for far too long.
I THEREFORE JOIN WITH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND CONCERNED CITIZENS EVERYWHERE TO DEMAND CHANGE AND AN END TO THE UNJUSTIFIABLE AND UNCONSCIONABLE KILLING OF ANIMALS AT ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL OF NEW YORK CITY!
Animal Rights Action Network/ARAN (Ireland);
Brooklyn Animal Foster Network;
The Coalition for New York City Animals;
Cornwall's Voice for Animals (UK);
For the Animals Sanctuary;
Four Paws SakeFriends of Animals;
German Shepherd Rescue of Central Colorado;
HAYTAP (Turkey);
Long Island Animal Advocates;
My Loveable Rescues;
Noah's Arks Rescue;
One Life Rescue;
People for the End of Animal Cruelty and Exploitation/PEACE;
Pets Alive;
Pet Protectors;
Pryor's Planet;
SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness/SHARK;
Sunnyskies Bird and Animal Sanctuary;
United Poultry Concerns;
Wagging On and On Forever/WOOF;
The Westport Coalition Against Puppy Mills;
0 comments:
Post a Comment