New Hope for Animal Center: Alliance Gives Pets a Better Chance - by Lisa L. Colangelo, New York Daily News City Hall Bureau - 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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New Hope for Animal Center: Alliance Gives Pets a Better Chance

by Lisa L. Colangelo, New York Daily News City Hall Bureau

Sunday, February 23, 2003

By the time homeless and unwanted dogs arrive at the Center for Animal Care and Control on E. 110th St., they are usually out of luck and hope.

One female akita showed up recently carrying more than the usual baggage. Before long, an armful of squealing puppies was added to the city's overburdened animal shelter system.

Unlike many stories coming out of the center, which euthanizes far more stray animals than it finds homes for, this one had a happy ending.

Members of a Philadelphia-area akita rescue group drove up to adopt the family.

Thanks to a new agreement between the center and a group of non-profit animal welfare groups, more stray dogs and cats will get a chance to find a home.

"We're starting to see some of the benefits already," said Julian Prager, acting executive director of the center - which takes in more than 50,000 animals of all kinds every year. "We've been able to place a number of animals more quickly and easily."

The center, which handles stray animals under a contract with the city's Health Department, has a long history of problems. Dogs disappeared from cages or were mistakenly euthanized while their heartbroken owners looked for them. Employees who went public with their complaints were dismissed.

Poor city report card

Last year, city Controller William Thompson confirmed the complaints of many animal advocates with a blistering audit that found a mismanaged agency more focused on animal control than care. Thompson's report said more than 67% of the animals taken in by the center in the first six months of 2001 were euthanized.

The center was further hobbled by budget cuts under the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations.

But recent changes have given critics some hope. A new center board of directors dismissed the executive director, Marilyn Haggerty-Blohm, a Giuliani appointee who clashed with animal advocates. A search for a new executive director is ongoing.

The Mayor's Alliance for New York City Animals, a coalition of non-profit animal welfare groups, was formed to help the struggling center with its mission.

14,000 adoptables die

Jane Hoffman, a lawyer who heads the alliance, estimates the center euthanized about 14,000 adoptable animals last year. The alliance has an ambitious plan to connect the center with rescue groups and eventually find homes for all of the animals.

"This administration is such a refreshing change to the last administration," said Hoffman. "We're not in such an adversarial position. If you have a good idea, they will embrace it."

However, the troubling stories continue. In recent weeks, shelter employees opened the freezer, where euthanized animals are temporarily stored, to find some surprises. One cat, who apparently used up one of his nine lives, survived his euthanasia injection and was walking around.

Another time, an employee opened the door and saw a live chicken poke its head up. It was trapped between the bodies of dead dogs.

"That place was very badly managed for a really long time," Hoffman said. "It takes a long time to turn any organization around."