Alliance News - A Strategy for Transforming NYC into a No-Kill City - by Jane Hoffman, President, Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals - October 2004 - Out of the Cage!, the E-Newsletter of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

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Alliance News

A Strategy for Transforming NYC into a "No-Kill" City

by Jane Hoffman, President, Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals was created in 2002. Its mission: to help New York City's Animal Care & Control (AC&C) reduce the euthanasia of all NYC cats and dogs of reasonable health and temperament by increasing adoptions and spay/neuter surgeries.

In June 2003, the Alliance submitted a grant application to Maddie's Fund requesting $16 million in funding over the course of seven years. The money will be used to help NYC reach an ambitious goal — a city where no dog or cat is killed merely because he or she does not have a home. In July 2004, the Alliance submitted a ten-year business plan, which is required of all groups submitting a grant application, outlining how this goal will be achieved. The plan will be presented to the Maddie's Fund Board at its next scheduled meeting. We are hopeful that this grant money will soon be on the way to NYC, forging an even stronger partnership between the City of New York and the 60-plus Alliance Participating Organizations (APOs), including AC&C.

Partners Committed to No-Kill NYC

AC&C holds the contract with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to provide animal control services for the residents of NYC. AC&C is an "open admissions" shelter, which means that it cannot turn away any cat or dog that is brought to one of its facilities. Despite its robust adoption program and the assistance provided by its Alliance partners, the AC&C has limited spaces available to house cats and dogs, and consequently, is forced to euthanize many of the animals in its care. Undeniably, it is a difficult task, and one that will not end without the help of every NYC resident and all of the local animal rescue groups and shelters.

In addition to AC&C, the Alliance is comprised of more than 60 Alliance Participating Organizations (APO) rescue groups and shelters, including the ASPCA, the Humane Society of New York, Bide-A-Wee, BARC Animal Shelter, Animal Haven, and scores of smaller animal rescue groups. Many of these organizations take animals directly from AC&C in order to find them new homes, as well as rescuing directly from the streets when necessary. Most also accept owner surrenders from the general public when space permits. These groups all have a "limited admissions" policy, which means that when their facility or foster homes are full, they are not able to accept any more animals until some are adopted.

A Strategy for Success

The Alliance business plan features four core objectives:

•	Increase the number of adoptions,
•	Decrease animal homelessness,
•	Raise public awareness of local shelter and rescue organizations and their animals, and
•	Strengthen NYC's existing efforts and resources.

To achieve these core objectives, the Alliance has identified more than 20 initiatives, which are categorized as resources, tools, programs, or services. Most of these initiatives have been specifically designed to address the accessibility and logistical challenges that are unique to NYC, as well as provide needed infrastructure and resources to help the APOs become more efficient and enhance their success in what they do — saving the lives of NYC's animals.

A Synthesis of Initiatives

The harmonious combination of current APO efforts and new Alliance initiatives should end the killing of healthy animals in NYC by year five, and significantly reduce preventable deaths of sick or injured animals by year ten.

Many of the initiatives in the plan were designed with NYC's distinctiveness in mind. For example:

•	A fleet of Alliance transport vans, which will be used primarily to transfer cats and dogs from AC&C to APOs, will also be available to transport animals to adoption sites, veterinarians, and grooming appointments.
•	Storefront adoption centers in high retail traffic areas of the city will bring cats and dogs seeking new homes to potential adopters.
•	Regularly scheduled adoption events in retail stores and community parks, again, will bring the animals to potential adopters.
•	Grants will be provided to help with medical expenses. Veterinary care in NYC is very expensive and, while many groups receive discounted rates from the veterinary community, they still pay more in medical fees than they receive in adoption fees.
•	Assistance in website development will be provided to APOs. Internet exposure can greatly increase adoptions, but launching and maintaining a website can be extremely daunting for shelters and rescue organizations, especially where time and volunteer talent are limited. Alliance support in these efforts can have a significant impact on adoptions.
•	Advertising and public relations campaigns will increase awareness of all the adoption options available in our city, and can boost adoptions and support across the board for NYC shelters and rescue groups.
•	Subsidies will be provided to help APOs as they increase their capacity to take in more animals or begin to take in greater numbers of sick or injured animals.
•	Coalitions will be built to tackle specific tasks more efficiently. For example, the New York City Feral Cat Council (NYCFCC) was formed to address the issue of feral cats in NYC. (See related article in this newsletter.) The New York Breed Rescue Network (NYBRN) was formed to provide people with more options in adopting their next purebred pet instead of acquiring one from a local breeder, puppy mill, or pet store.

How Programs will be Funded

The $16 million requested of Maddie's Fund is approximately half of the total amount of money needed to fund these programs over 10 years. If approved, approximately $9.5 million will be spent to increase adoptions and $6.5 million to subsidize spay/neuter surgeries.

Additional funding will be raised from other sources, including individual contributions, corporate sponsorships, and foundation grants. For example,

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The ASPCA has made a very generous contribution of $5 million — $1 million each year for five years — to the Mayor's Alliance.

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BROADWAY BARKS!, the star-studded dog and cat adoption and fundraising event produced each summer in Manhattan's Shubert Alley by Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore, contributes to APOs as well as to the Picasso Fund. This fund provides grants to cover extraordinary veterinary costs for sick or injured AC&C dogs and cats. (This month's article, "The Picasso Fund in Action," describes how the fund gave one puppy a second chance.) To learn more about the Picasso Fund or to make a contribution, click here. And watch for news about other Picasso animals in future issues of our newsletter to see your contribution at work!

Indeed, transforming NYC into a no-kill city poses tremendous challenges to the people and organizations that have committed to this mission. But it is a goal that is attainable, and well worth the effort for the thousands of cats and dogs whose lives will be saved.

To learn more about the Mayor's Alliance's mission and programs, and how you can participate in our success, please visit the Mayor's Alliance website.