The Power of Imagination: The ASPCA and New York City Take a Giant Step Toward a No-Kill Future - by Edwin J. Sayres, President, ASPCA, ASPCA Animal Watch, Summer 2004 - Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, Inc. - Working with the City of New York to promote dog and cat adoption and spay and neuter programs to make New York a no-kill city.

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The Power of Imagination: The ASPCA and New York City Take a Giant Step Toward a No-Kill Future

by Edwin J. Sayres, President, ASPCA, ASPCA Animal Watch, Summer 2004

Since my arrival here at the "A" a little over a year ago, one of my most important tasks has been to make sure that the vital work that the ASPCA does on the local level is balanced by the equally important work performed by our national team members. The ASPCA is a large, fairly complex organization that does many wonderful things, but this size and complexity also requires extra vigilance on our part, so that the wonderful accomplishments achieved on the local level continually complement and enhance the wonderful things that take place on the national scene-and vice versa.

Recent events, however, have demonstrated to me that a tremendous amount of synergy already exists between the local and national teams here at the "A." Not too long ago, Bert Troughton, who heads the ASPCA's "Imagine Humane" program, conducted an "appreciative inquiry" session with representatives from our local and national programs and the Mayor's Alliance for New York City's Animals, a public-private partnership with the City of New York that was launched in 2002 and that brings together more than 60 non-profit animal care groups, including the ASPCA, the Humane Society of New York, Animal Care & Control of New York City and numerous smaller organizations.

I'd heard of the appreciative inquiry process before, but my firsthand experience with Bert and the Alliance members was truly an eye-opener. For the uninitiated — which probably includes most of you reading this column — appreciative inquiry is a process that asks participants in any endeavor (in this case, humane organizations) to identify their strengths and successes — that is, to focus on things that have worked in the past — and then build from there. This helps the whole become the sum of its very best parts, which subsequently makes the odds of overall success that much higher.

We like to call the Alliance a "family of compassionate heroes," and it became clear during the appreciative inquiry session that this family had made tremendous progress over the last two years in uniting the animal welfare community in New York City — no mean feat, as anyone who lives or works here can tell you — through its tireless attempts to raise public awareness about pet adoption and responsible pet ownership.

With these successes in mind, we decided that it was time for the ASPCA to take the next step and help ensure that the Alliance's vital work continued unimpeded. At a press conference in Central Park, ASPCA Chairman and CEO Hoyle Jones and I had the privilege of presenting a $5 million check on the ASPCA's behalf to the Mayor's Alliance. This financial backing — which will be spread out over the next five years — is the ASPCA's way of showing that the organization is firmly committed to the goal of working with all concerned parties to make New York a "no-kill" city by the end of the decade.

Obviously, I'm extremely excited by both the work that the Alliance has already done and by our own decision to make a strong financial commitment to that work. As many of you know, the no-kill movement first began to gather steam in San Francisco in the early '90s, and as president of the SFSPCA from 1998 to 2003, I was fortunate enough to be in the thick of things when the San Francisco model really took off. When I came to the ASPCA last year, I made it clear that my goal was to make San Francisco's successes work here in New York, and the ASPCA's ability to provide the Mayor's Alliance with this kind of financial support-along with our ability to focus the core competencies of both our local and national team members toward one important common goal-is a huge step toward making that goal a reality.

Reprinted from ASPCA Animal Watch, Summer 2004, Vol. 24, No.2, with permission from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 424 East 92nd Street, New York, NY 10128-6804.