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Out of the Cage! The Blog of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

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Euthanasia at AC&C shelters has been reduced by 57 percent since 2003, the first year of operation for the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals. View the entire 2009 report...

Euthanasia at AC&C shelters has been reduced by 57 percent since 2003, the first year of operation for the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals.

View the entire 2009 report…

Out of the Cage! (March 2010)

Progress Report: On Track for No-Kill New York City

Despite the lagging economy that continues to challenge rescue groups and shelters seeking to re-home animals and pet owners struggling to keep their pets at home, euthanasia at Animal Care & Control of NYC (AC&C) shelters is down, adoptions by AC&C and other Alliance Participating Organizations (APOS) are up, and transfers from AC&C to its New Hope Partners is rising dramatically. Following are some of the highlights of our progress in 2009 (Year 5 of the Maddie's Pet Rescue Project in NYC). For a more detailed view, please see our Summary Ten-Year Strategic Plan and Progress Report 2009.

Fewer animals killed in 2009. Euthanasia at AC&C shelters was reduced to 13,620, or 33 percent of intake in 2009, down from 16,706, or 39 percent of intake in 2008. That represents a 57 percent decrease in euthanasia from 2003, the first year of operation for the Mayor's Alliance, when more than 31,000 animals were killed.

Adoptions are up. One of the factors driving down the euthanasia rate is an increase in the number of animal adoptions. Adoptions by APOs (which include AC&C and 110 other partners) have steadily increased every year, reaching a new high of 28,483 in 2009.

Transfers jump dramatically. The number of cats and dogs transferred from AC&C to its no-kill New Hope Partners (the majority of which are APOs) rose from 13,563 in 2008 to 17,641 in 2009. Getting animals out of the city shelters quickly not only frees up space to reduce overcrowding but also improves the chances that animals won't get sick as a result of stress and exposure to so many other animals at the shelter.

The Mayor's Alliance Wheels of Hope transport program, a lynchpin for the successful transfer initiative, transported almost 7,000 animals out of AC&C shelters in 2009 to partner shelters and rescue groups for placement into permanent homes. The Mayor's Alliance transport program augments the transport resources of its participating organizations to expedite the transfer of animals out of AC&C shelters.

Spay/neuter programs expand. While intakes at AC&C shelters have remained fairly consistent since 2003, with 41,712 dogs and cats taken in last year, we've managed to avoid an increase in intakes by effectively reducing the number of animal births in NYC through increased availability of free and low-cost spay/neuter services. For example, spay/neuter surgeries performed by private veterinarians and non-profit organizations (ASPCA, AC&C, The Humane Society of New York, The Toby Project, and Bideawee) participating in Maddie's Spay/Neuter Project in NYC totaled 18,240 in 2009, exceeding our target of 18,011. The total number of spay/neuter surgeries reported to the Mayor's Alliance by Project participants in 2009 (including Maddie's Fund and other spay/neuter surgeries) was 56,523, up from 43,709 in 2008. The ASPCA Mobile Spay/Neuter Clinics alone accounted for more than 34,000 spay/neuters, including more than 13,000 surgeries performed for shelter animals from other organizations.

In 2009, combined adoptions by AC&C and other APOs reached a new high of 28,483. View the entire 2009 report…

In 2009, combined adoptions by AC&C and other APOs reached a new high of 28,483.

View the entire 2009 report…

Saving more sick and injured animals. Reducing euthanasia at city shelters means saving more of the cats and dogs that arrive at AC&C shelters with injuries and other medical conditions that require treatment. The Picasso Veterinary Fund of the Mayor's Alliance pays for much of this medical care. In 2009, more than 1,000 cats and dogs received care paid for by the fund, which is supported entirely by private donations.

Managing stray and outdoor cat populations through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). The New York City Feral Cat Initiative, a joint program of the Mayor's Alliance and Neighborhood Cats, continued in 2009 to provide training, assistance, and information to the growing community of feral cat caretakers in NYC who are performing TNR to humanely reduce the number of feral and stray cats. These efforts are helping to stem the tide of cats being brought to AC&C shelters, which strains the resources of the already overburdened city shelters. Last year, 631 individuals participated in our TNR workshops, bringing the total number of trained TNR caretakers to 2,649 since April 2001.

And so we will continue in 2010 toward our goal of transforming New York City into a no-kill community, where no healthy or treatable cat or dog is killed simply because he or she is homeless. The challenges are immense, but through the continued collective efforts of our participating organizations, including AC&C, and our stalwart supporters, including Maddie's Fund, the Pet Rescue Foundation, the ASPCA, and many others, we will be successful. We must be — so many lives depend upon it.

We invite you to join in our success. Please visit our Support Us page to learn about ways you can help.