PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Becky Wisdom, President of Green Point Cats, on Animal Overpopulation Crisis and Need for Affordable Spay/Neuter Services
5:01:30
·
134 sec
Becky Wisdom, President of Green Point Cats, testifies about the urgent need for affordable and accessible spay/neuter services in New York City to address the animal overpopulation crisis. She emphasizes the overwhelming demand for these services and the insufficient resources available to rescuers and pet owners.
- Highlights the lack of low-cost, city-funded spay/neuter services and poor enforcement of existing laws
- Describes the challenges faced by pet owners and good Samaritans who want to help but can't afford or access spay/neuter services
- Emphasizes that the current system of relying on exhausted rescuers is inadequate to address the scale of the problem
Becky Wisdom
5:01:30
Hello, and thank you for having this hearing today.
5:01:33
My name is Becky Wisdom, and I run a nonprofit cat rescue organization called Green Point Cats.
5:01:38
Like a lot of rescuers, I first started doing this work because I couldn't ignore the many free roaming and abandoned cats and kittens all living and dying within blocks of my home.
5:01:47
My inability to turn my back on this kind of suffering, and my commitment to helping my local community is how I became part of the New York City volunteer workforce of animal rescuers.
5:01:58
Sadly, my personal values, compassion, and care are not enough to solve this crisis.
5:02:04
I am working around the clock, often in response to the many, many desperate pleas for help from the community, and my work is barely making a dent.
5:02:13
We are now in a full blown animal overpopulation crisis in New York City due to this lack of low cost city funded Spannuter Services, and the lack of enforcement of current laws of Spannuter of free roaming pets, which includes the many cats in warehouses, and Bodegas, and other working cat settings.
5:02:32
I've met too many pet owners and caretakers who want to do the right thing by spaying during the animals in their care, but they simply can't find an affordable and accessible option.
5:02:41
I talked to good Samaritans who thought they were doing a kind thing by bringing home a few kittens or rescuing some local cats not realizing that without spanned neuter surgery, cats are not great indoor pets.
5:02:53
Male kittens grow up to be males that spray or females that go into heat.
5:02:57
In a home with just one unsterilized male and 1 unsterilized female, will inevitably lead to more cats, which many of which end up abandoned.
5:03:06
As a rescuer, I have access to a very small number of spaniuter appointments every month that are intended for stray and free roaming cats.
5:03:13
ALLOCATING THOSE FEW SPOTS TO THE THOUSANDS OF CATS NEEDING SPANUDEAU IS LIKE BALING OUT THE TITANIC WITH A TEASSPOON.
5:03:19
AND YET I DO WHAT I CAN AND I ALSO EXTEND WHATEVER APPOINTMENTS I CAN SPARE TO PET OWNERS WHO ARE COMING VERY CLOSE TO THE DECISION TO ABANDON THEIR PET rather than surrendering it to an overcrowded city shelter.
5:03:32
It is time for New York to recognize the crisis and do its part by prioritizing Spainuter services to all New Yorkers rather than offloading this problem to exhausted rescuers.
5:03:42
Like myself.
5:03:43
Thank you.
Lynn C. Schulman
5:03:44
Thank you very much.