AGENCY TESTIMONY
Current challenges facing animal shelters in NYC
0:25:42
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3 min
Animal shelters in NYC are facing numerous post-COVID challenges that are negatively impacting animal welfare. These challenges require community support and collaboration to address effectively.
- Main drivers of animal intake are owner surrenders and stray animals
- Financial hardship, job losses, housing instability, and rising costs of pet care contribute to surrenders
- There's an increase in stray animals, which are harder to place due to lack of information
- Adoption rates are declining as people return to regular work routines
- There's a critical nationwide shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians
Risa Weinstock
0:25:42
Animal shelters nationally are navigating many post COVID challenges that are dramatically and negatively impacting animal welfare.
0:25:51
Adoption alone will not solve these issues or alleviate the strain on our shelters.
0:25:57
Community support and collaboration with the common goal of achieving the best outcomes for the most animals is necessary.
0:26:07
No one organization can fix what is happening, but all of us working together can certainly lead to a stronger state of animal welfare in New York City.
0:26:18
The 2 main drivers of animal intake at ACC our owner surrender and stray animals.
0:26:25
The common thread to these intakes is financial hardship, job losses, housing instability, pet restrictions in housing, the rising cost of basic pet care, pet food and veterinary services.
0:26:39
We have dedicated significant resources to provide social services to assist thousands of pet owners in successfully keeping their pets.
0:26:49
Yet other constraints like pet restrictions in rental homes and apartments and pet fees on top of an increasingly unaffordable rental market and the rising cost of veterinary care leave our clients with no option but surrender.
0:27:04
These are not issues that ACC can solve alone.
0:27:08
There's also been an uptick in stray animals brought to ACC.
0:27:12
These are the hardest to place animals because we have no access to important information like their temperament, their behavior or any latent health issues.
0:27:22
As we take in more stray cats and dogs, the amount of time spent in our care center also increases.
0:27:29
That is because so many of these animals we take in are not spayed and neutered, And by law, ACC must sterilize cats and dogs before releasing them to adopters or rescuers.
0:27:41
While there was a significant increase in pet adoptions during the height of the pandemic, when many people were spending more time at home, the national trend as well as in New York City is that the rate of adoption is declining.
0:27:54
As people return to more regular work away from home and their social routines, fewer individuals are looking to adopt pets leading to longer stays for animals and shelters.
0:28:06
For the same reasons that lead to surrender, the rising cost of pet care and a crisis of affordability of housing and daily goods have all added to lower adoption rates.
0:28:18
There's also a very critical nationwide shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians.
0:28:25
Affordability and availability of care have resulted in many pets going untreated for basic wellness issues to more serious conditions.
0:28:34
At ACC, many of our clients cannot afford care.
0:28:39
This is specifically why our surrender prevention program was implemented.