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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Anne Levin, Executive Director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition on Animal Welfare Initiatives
6:05:26
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121 sec
Anne Levin, Executive Director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, testified in support of a $1.5 million spay/neuter fund and a pet food pantry initiative. She highlighted the success of their rescue clinic model, which provides affordable spay/neuter services and has completed over 12,500 surgeries in four years.
- The BBWC rescue clinic was established with a startup grant of $102,000 in 2020 (now estimated at $150,000) and broke even within 2-3 months.
- The clinic offers spay/neuter services at significantly lower costs than private vets, charging $180 for spay and $160 for neuter, with discounted rates for rescuers and pet owners needing assistance.
- Levin emphasized the potential for replicating this clinic model to address the homeless cat crisis in New York City, calling for dedicated resources and community collaboration.
Anne Levin
6:05:26
Executive director of the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition which operates Brooklyn Cat Cafe and the BB AWC Rescue Clinic.
6:05:33
We are here to support the council to encourage the council to support the 1,500,000.0 spay neuter fund and the pet food pantry.
6:05:42
Today we've heard a lot of testimony about the urgency and magnitude of the homeless cat crisis.
6:05:47
While it is undeniably a crisis that will take many years, dedicated resources and community collaboration to resolve, I'd like to tell you about the BBWC rescue clinic and our in house rescue clinic.
6:05:58
Our in house rescue clinic and how we design and build this model to be easily replicable by other organizations.
6:06:03
We were able to complete all of this work in six months with a startup grant of 102,000 in 2020.
6:06:09
Updated prices on equipment brings that up to 150,000 today.
6:06:13
Still more achievable than larger models requiring millions and several years to start.
6:06:18
BBWC rescue clinic broke even within two to three months and continues to break even even while keeping costs low.
6:06:25
Pet owners pay 180 for spay and a hundred and $60 for a neuter while rescuers and pet owners needing assistance pay a hundred and $20 for a spay and a hundred dollars for a neuter.
6:06:36
These prices are in many cases 10 times less than the cost of spaying and neutering a cat at private vets in the city.
6:06:42
With one vet, three vet techs and one admin person we've been able to address some of the access and affordability issues plaguing individual and small group rescues and pet owners.
6:06:53
Our clients are able to schedule appointments within a few weeks.
6:06:56
In our four years of operations, we've completed over 12,500 spay and neuter surgeries and around a thousand dentals and other special surgeries.
6:07:04
This clinic model has also allowed us to continue to provide the best care for our in house cats while decreasing veterinary costs for those cats by over 70% while still helping some of the most medically in need animals.
6:07:17
We believe that with dedicated and productive community collaboration and the support of important institutions such as the city council, we have a realistic path forward out of New York City's cat crisis.