Wheels of Hope
Since 2005, the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals' fleet of transport vans known as Wheels of Hope has carried more than 25,000 dogs and cats from Animal Care & Control of NYC (AC&C) to other Alliance Participating Organizations — no-kill, non-profit shelters and rescue groups with the resources to find them new homes. Each trip these vans make offers hope for a new life to the dogs and cats riding inside. Our vans' wheels turn seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.
Wheels of Hope allows our city shelters to move animals out of their shelter cages more quickly, reducing both the numbers of cats and dogs euthanized for lack of space (a major driver of euthanasia in NYC) and the chance that these pets will contract upper respiratory infections or kennel cough. This reduction in illness is important to lessen both the suffering of the animals and the veterinary bills of the non-profit rescue groups that care for them until they are placed into new homes.
Wheels of Hope supplements the resources of the Mayor's Alliance rescue groups and shelters, allowing them to focus on what they do best: finding caring, permanent homes for the animals. Transport costs, including the vehicles themselves, maintenance, fuel, insurance, licensing, and the salaries of our dedicated drivers, are borne by the Mayor's Alliance.
In keeping with our strategic plan, Wheels of Hope has been carefully designed to maximize effectiveness. A Mayor's Alliance staff transport coordinator and an associate work seven days a week to direct the multiple trips made by these vans.
Thunderbolt, a Shiba Inu, boards the Wheels of Hope van for transport to a NYC Shiba Rescue foster home.
Photo by Krista Menzel
Working with the Mayor's Alliance transport coordinator are New Hope Coordinators – staff members at AC&C whose positions are funded in part by a grant from the Mayor's Alliance. These New Hope Coordinators communicate constantly with both rescue groups and shelters (to determine which groups have the capacity to accept animals from AC&C) and the Mayor's Alliance transport coordinator (to schedule transport for those pets).
Since the first Wheels of Hope van hit the road in 2005, more than 25,000 cats, dogs and other animals have been transported on the next leg of their journey to permanent new homes.
