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Animal Agency to End Its Big Sleep Solution

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

Friday, November 7, 2003

Man's best friends may be getting a new leash on life.

The city's animal shelter system, which puts tens of thousands of dogs and cats to sleep annually, plans to stop the killing.

More than 30,000 animals were euthanized in city shelters last year. But the new head of the beleaguered Center for Animal Care and Control said yesterday that an aggressive adoption program and a spay-neuter project will help transform the city's three shelters into no-kill facilities within five years.

"No healthy or treatable animal will have to be euthanized because we don't have space," agency Executive Director Ed Boks said. "If every pet owner in New York City would have their pet spayed or neutered, we could probably end euthanasia in two years."

The agency, which handles animal control under a contract with the city Health Department, takes in more than 40,000 strays a year — 150 to 200 daily.

The agency's new philosophy and a new name, New York City Animal Care and Control, will be rolled out today in a media blitz, starting with a spot on the "Today" show and a news conference at Belvedere Castle in Central Park.

The Mayor's Alliance for New York City Animals, a coalition of animal welfare groups, helped persuade actresses Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters to lend their support.

The Center for Animal Care and Control has had a troubled history. Dogs have disappeared from cages or have been mistakenly euthanized, and employees who went public with complaints have been dismissed.

But even its toughest critics were heartened by the agency's plans.

"This is the first ray of hope since the CACC was formed that the animals will be saved rather than destroyed," said Gary Kaskel of United Action for Animals.

Copyright © 2003 Daily News, L.P.