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PUBLIC TESTIMONY

Testimony by Deborah Thomas, Volunteer at Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC)

5:42:18

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109 sec

Deborah Thomas, a long-time volunteer at ACC Manhattan Shelter, addresses the issue of shelter overcrowding due to pet surrenders and proposes two main solutions to the city council. She emphasizes the need for additional funding for ACC and legislation to protect pet owners' housing rights.

Calls for increased ACC funding to hire more staff, including veterinarians, to improve animal care and facilitate adoptions
Urges the creation of a "pets in housing" bill to prohibit landlords from banning pets in all types of NYC housing
Expresses support for Intro 1018 and calls for the passage of Intro 967 (Ryder's Law) to ban carriage horses in NYC

Deborah Thomas

5:42:18

Good afternoon.

5:42:19

My name is Deborah Thomas.

5:42:21

And I've been a volunteer at the New York City ACC Manhattan Shelter in cat adoptions for nearly 20 years.

5:42:29

I'll get straight to the point.

5:42:32

Since we're currently seeing troubling overcrowding at the ACC and other shelters due to people surrendering their pets in large numbers due to evictions, people moving out of New York City, or people moving into buildings that do not allow pets as well as extremely high veterinary costs.

5:42:50

I respectfully urge the city council to do 2 things to help turn around this animal surrender surge.

5:42:57

Number 1, please allocate additional funding to the ACC so that they can hire more animal care and placement staff as well as additional veterinarians and medical support staff to help with intake and inshelter care once the animals are at the ACC, including spray and neuter, which would facilitate and promote more and faster adoptions.

5:43:20

And number 2, please write and pass a pets in housing bill that would outlaw landlords prohibiting pet owners from having household pets in any and all New York City housing no matter the type of housing or the size or breed of the dog, cat, or rabbit.

5:43:39

And I'd be happy to help anyone who wants to write something like this, to help them write it and lobby for it.

5:43:45

And finally, I also support intro 1018 and I would like to respectfully urge chair Schulman to please bring to the floor and pass intro 967 riders' law, which would ban and discontinue the suffering of carriage horses in New York City.

5:44:05

Thank you very much.

Lynn C. Schulman

5:44:06

Thank you.

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Testimony by Linda Mann, Animal Rights Activist

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Testimony by Deserie Matos, President of Keep Me Warm Dog Houses Inc., on Animal Welfare and Spay/Neuter Services