This year presented us with new beginnings, new successes, and new challenges.

We began the second half of our 10-year strategic plan to end the killing of healthy and treatable cats and dogs at Animal Care & Control of NYC (AC&C) shelters. Remaining on target toward our goal, we achieved — for the first time in New York City’s history — a euthanasia rate at AC&C shelters below 12,000, or 32.5 percent of intake.

Our success relies upon the efforts of 150 Alliance Participating Organizations (APOs) that strive daily to save lives. Without their energy, talents, and commitment, we could not have reached the level of life saving that we accomplished. Our progress is fueled by the continued faith and financial support of Maddie’s Fund^®, the Pet Rescue Foundation, and the steadfast commitment of funding and resources by the ASPCA^®.

To remain successful, we engaged new strategies in 2010, while building upon the success of existing programs. We introduced two new events — Adoptapalooza Mega Adoption Event and Whiskers in Wonderland — to showcase hundreds of animals for adoption. We partnered with NBC for a televised weekly adoption segment on its entertainment and lifestyle show, New York Live, to promote our APOs’ adoptable dogs. We again partnered with Broadway Barks for its annual adoption extravaganza, and with APO North Shore Animal League America (NSALA) to stage weekly APO adoption events using NSALA Mobile Adoption Units.

Our Picasso Veterinary Fund^® and other medical assistance programs helped more than 800 cats and dogs from AC&C receive medical care to prepare them for adoption. We added two new vehicles to our Wheels of Hope transport fleet, engaged additional drivers, and added a second Transport Coordinator to the team. More than 8,000 animals were transported on our vans in 2010.

We continued to offer free and lowcost resources to our city’s pet owners, including spay/neuter and microchipping clinics, and assisted pet owners in crisis. We created new sources of funding with our charity fitness team, Miles For Paws, and partnered with Architects for Animals to raise awareness and funds for our New York City Feral Cat Initiative.

Through all of our efforts, it is our volunteers, like the one featured on our cover, who do much of the heavy lifting. It is to them, and the thousands of animals they help to save, that we dedicate this annual report.

Jane Hoffman, President
Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals