PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Esther Regelson, Animal Rescuer
5:20:46
·
130 sec
Esther Regelson, a long-time animal rescuer, testified about the challenges faced by independent rescuers in New York City. She highlighted the lack of infrastructure, space, transportation, and affordable care for rescued animals, comparing the difficulties in NYC to her easier experiences in Virginia.
- Regelson raised concerns about congestion pricing potentially impacting rescuers' ability to work in Manhattan.
- She mentioned the need for wildlife rescue support and sanctuaries for feral cats that need relocation.
- Regelson shared personal experiences, including managing a colony of 9 cats at the Seaport, which cost her $5000 plus additional donated funds.
Esther Regelson
5:20:46
Hi.
5:20:46
My name is Esther Rigelson, and I've been doing animal rescue for several decades.
5:20:52
I'm a typical example of with all these people, a childless cat lady among other things.
5:20:59
And I live in the neighborhood.
5:21:01
And I just want to point out, as you know, there's no infrastructure for us.
5:21:06
We have no space.
5:21:07
We have no transportation to take care of animals.
5:21:10
And that care is expensive.
5:21:13
And I echo what everyone else has said, you've heard it all before.
5:21:17
Okay?
5:21:18
I've done trapping in Virginia.
5:21:20
I had access to a car, access to space, access to low cost care, and it's really simple.
5:21:27
Here, it's immensely stressful and depressing.
5:21:33
I I I do wanna say that there are several other things that should be addressed.
5:21:43
For one thing, I support congestion pricing, but those of us who do rescue in Manhattan are going to be further diminished by it, if that's the case.
5:21:53
Okay?
5:21:55
Also, sorry, I'm off my script trying to rush.
5:22:02
I do also wanna point out that we also do wildlife rescue often.
5:22:07
And we suffered the same stresses.
5:22:10
And I hope that you'll address that in future very soon.
5:22:16
And one other thing, I have 3 feral cats that I'm taking care of in Brooklyn Bridge, There's a woman in Brooklyn who was a hoarder and she's in assisted living and just sold her house and she has 7 furloughs in her home.
5:22:31
We need sanctuaries for furloughs because they often have to be relocated.
5:22:36
And that's a huge issue.
5:22:39
We don't have the resources.
Daniel Teachout
5:22:41
Okay.
Robert F. Holden
5:22:41
We
Esther Regelson
5:22:41
don't have the resources to move cats.
5:22:43
I had a colony of 9 cats at the Seaport, and it cost me alone $5000 plus other costs that we generated with donations.
5:22:55
It's probably expensive.