FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Mayor's Alliance for NYC'S Animals Partners with the Doris Day Animal Foundation to Promote National Spay Day USA

Two-month Campaign Offers Low-Cost Certificates and a Super Sports Raffle with the Goooooooooooal! of Spaying and Neutering Dozens of Companion Animals

New York, NY – Tuesday, February 24, 2004 – The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and local veterinarians will participate in the Doris Day Animal Foundation's Spay Day USA, a national campaign to promote the life-saving benefits of spay/neuter. New Yorkers will be awarded certificates for a suggested donation of $10. The certificates will be redeemable for the spay or neuter of their companion animal at one of the participating veterinarians, located in all five boroughs. Once the certificate is redeemed, the pet's guardian will be entered into a drawing for two tickets for a MetroStars home game in the 2004 season. Donations raised will go towards spay/neuter of a managed feral cat colony through CSM Stray Foundation (USA) Inc., a Mayor's Alliance member based in Queens.

This year marks the tenth annual Spay Day USA, which is co-sponsored nationally by PetSmart Charities and Natural Life Pet Products. Since Spay Day's inception in 1995, participants have altered over 1,000,000 animals. Pet overpopulation forces our country's shelters to kill millions of cats and dogs each year, at a cost of over a billion tax dollars. Spay/neuter is a proven solution to this crisis. In New York City's Spay Day effort last year, over 80 surgeries were performed, thanks to the hard work of volunteers and the generosity of participating veterinarians. This year's gooooooooooal! is 150 surgeries.

Veterinarians interested in donating surgeries, and members of the public who wish to have their pet spayed or neutered can call (718) 638-9857 or e-mail spaydaynyc2004@earthlink.net from now until March 31, 2004. Surgeries will take place before April 30, 2004.

For more information on Spay Day USA, please visit www.AnimalAllianceNYC.org or www.ddaf.org.

The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals is a coalition of over 60 animal rescue groups and shelters working with the City of New York to find a great home for every cat and dog in NYC who needs one. To achieve that goal, the Mayor's Alliance, a 501(c)(3) not-for–profit corporation, has formed a public-private partnership with the City of New York to develop creative solutions to deal with issues of animal care and control in New York City.

Contact:

Jane Hoffman, President and Chair of the Board

Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

Phone: (212) 252-2350

Fax: (212) 591-6383

E-mail: info@AnimalAllianceNYC.org

Web: http://www.AnimalAllianceNYC.org

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