New York City Animal Care & Control (AC&C) is the largest pet organization in the Northeast. It is a not-for-profit corporation, not a government agency, but many of its board members are city officials and it is primarily funded by the New York City Department of Health as well as by Maddie’s Fund, a nonprofit organization working toward a nation of no-kill shelters. New York City contracts AC&C to manage its municipal shelter system and it is, therefore, an open-door shelter (meaning they can’t turn animals away even if they are full to capacity).

AC&C has been on the path to becoming a no-kill agency and has been improving its adoption-to-kill ratio over the past few years through programs such as New Hope, which is a collaboration with area rescue groups. Recently, hundreds of cats and dogs have also found homes through the work of independent folks posting nightly kill lists on Facebook pages called Pets on Death Row and Urgent Part 2. Thursday, The New York Times reported on the success and challenges of such efforts.

Unfortunately, AC&C has fallen on tough times. It has never really had enough money to deal with the vast number of animals (approximately 43,000 annually, according to the AC&C website) who come through its doors in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island, and funds have been cut even further this year.

NYC Sunlight Coalition, a group that reports on AC&C, reported Thursday that AC&C shut down its call center, making it difficult for humans to inquire about adopting an animal. It has also canceled its locator service to help people find a missing cat or dog. Humans have to go to the AC&C website, hoping their cat or dog is listed there. The New York Daily News reported on additional service cuts at AC&C and cuts to animal control services as well.

Additionally, collaborating with AC&C is becoming more difficult. As Marina Guvenc writes on Vintage Cats, her Tumblr blog, “The [AC&C] board and administration frown upon Facebook networks that search for fosters for pets on the nightly destroy lists.” Also, according to an anonymous rescue source, rescue groups in the Mayor’s Alliance have been finding it increasingly difficult to reach and work with New Hope coordinators this past year.

In The New York Times blog post, AC&C officials responded to some of the criticism with concerns about false offers of adoption that confound the system. AC&C also expressed concern about maintaining the public trust.

Concern is sufficiently widespread that a standing-room-only crowd attended September’s Board of Directors meeting. Vintage Cats also questions the commitment of city officials to the no-kill transition, as does the Shelter Reform Action Committee. SRAC is concerned about the service cuts, but also about accountability of the organization to its funders and the animals it serves. SRAC is also increasingly concerned about unwillingness to share information about AC&C activities with concerned citizens.

Saturday, 6 November 2010, an independent group of animal advocates will rally in Washington Square Park in Manhattan, between noon and 5:30 pm EDT, to bring awareness for the need to reform AC&C. Organizers hope a large turnout at the rally will draw attention to the problems at AC&C and help to make needed changes that will help the City’s animals and the people who love them.

As of Friday night, more than 100 people had already indicated on the Facebook event announcement that they will be attending. Supporters from around the country had offered comments in support of the effort to reform New York’s shelter system.

Tagged as: Animal Care & Control, New York City, pets, Pets on Death Row, rescue, Urgent Part 2