NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Acknowledges Receipt of $15.5 Million Maddie's Fund Grant for NYC Animal Adoptions - 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.

Home > The Alliance in the News > 2005 Alliance News Items > NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Acknowledges Receipt of $15.5 Million Maddie's Fund Grant for NYC Animal Adoptions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, February 9, 2005

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Acknowledges Receipt of $15.5 Million Maddie's Fund Grant for NYC Animal Adoptions

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg cradles Columbus, a brindle Pit Bull puppy from the ASPCA, during a press conference at City Hall. At the event, he thanked Maddie's Fund for its $15.5 million grant to transform NYC into a no-kill community, and the ASPCA for its $5 million lead grant that allowed the Mayor's Alliance to qualify for the Maddie's Fund grant.

New York, NY – Wednesday, February 9, 2005 – As Lefty and Brandy and more than a half-dozen of their cohorts marched proudly into the Blue Room at City Hall today, they brought with them a certain informality not typically found at a press conference held by a NYC mayor. But for these special little New Yorkers — canine citizens who are awaiting adoption from various NYC animal shelters and rescue groups, today's announcement by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of the award of a $15.5 million grant from Maddie's Fund to the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals brought new hope into their lives, and the lives of thousands of their fellow adoptable NYC dogs and cats.

The grant, awarded jointly to the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and the Veterinary Medical Association of New York City (VMANYC), will be paid out over seven years, and will be used to increase animal adoptions and fund low-cost spay and neuter surgeries for low-income New Yorkers' companion animals.

Gingerly holding Columbus, a brindle Pit Bull puppy from the ASPCA, an Alliance Participating Organization, Mayor Bloomberg expressed his appreciation to Maddie's Fund for its unparalleled support of New York City's plan to end the euthanasia of healthy and treatable homeless animals in NYC shelters within the next ten years. He presented Maddie's Fund President Rich Avanzino with a stuffed doggie-bone in a symbolic gesture of the City's appreciation for the grant — the largest such grant ever awarded to an animal welfare organization.

"This grant will help the private shelter and rescue organizations in the City increase adoptions and decrease the demand on the City shelter system to unnecessarily euthanize healthy and treatable companion animals," said Mayor Bloomberg. "It will make New York a more humane City. I want to thank Maddie's Fund for their generous grant and congratulate the Mayor's Alliance and VMANYC for all their work in procuring this grant. This effort represents the best that can be achieved when both private and public sectors work together."

In accepting the Mayor's thanks, Mr. Avanzino expressed his support of the project to end animal homelessness in NYC. "New York is the most influential city in the world," he said. "As such, helping New York save all of its healthy and treatable shelter dogs and cats has ramifications far beyond its borders. This project will be a beacon for the nation and the world."

Approximately $9.5 million of the Maddie's Fund grant will be spent to increase pet adoptions, and $6 million will be allocated to provide subsidies for spay and neuter surgeries for pets of low-income New Yorkers. The spay/neuter program will be administered by the VMANYC, which partnered with the Mayor's Alliance in applying for the grant.

The Mayor was joined by Jane Hoffman, President of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, and Ed Sayres, President of the ASPCA. The ASPCA's lead grant of $5 million, to be paid out over five years, helped the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals qualify for the larger Maddie's Fund grant. "We are honored to help the animals…and honored to work with the Mayor's Alliance and with Maddie's Fund," said Mr. Sayres.

The Mayor and his guests shared the stage with nine adoptable dogs representing three Alliance Participating Organizations — the ASPCA, the Humane Society of New York, and Animal Care & Control of New York City — the NYC agency that each year is forced to euthanize thousands of animals simply because good homes cannot be found for them quickly enough. They included Lefty (a white Akita mix), Brandy (a Beagle), Toby and Teddy (an inseparable pair of Chihuahuas), Chimella (a Shi Tsu), Columbus (the Pit Bull puppy), and three Lab mix puppies: Parsons, Atlantic, and Farmer.

The Mayors Alliance for NYC's Animals, established in 2002, is a coalition of 65 animal rescue groups and shelters that are working with the City of New York to find homes for all of the City's homeless cats and dogs who need them.

Maddie's Fund, the Pet Rescue Foundation, is a $200 million family foundation established in 1999 to help communities throughout the U.S. eliminate the unnecessary killing of healthy and treatable homeless animals merely because they do not have homes. The foundation was created by Dave Duffield, founder, Chairman, and CEO of the Silicon Valley-based software giant PeopleSoft, and his wife, Cheryl, in honor of the beloved family Miniature Schnauzer, Maddie, who passed away in 1997.

The Veterinary Medical Association of New York City is one of the oldest veterinary associations in the U.S., having been founded in 1894. Currently, it has some 260 members in private practice and/or working at not-for-profit veterinary institutions located within the New York Metropolitan area.

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 Site: http://www.AnimalAllianceNYC.org

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