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PUBLIC TESTIMONY

Testimony by Chloe Rein, President of Brooklyn Kitty Committee on Animal Welfare Funding

6:14:37

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128 sec

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Chloe Rein, President of Brooklyn Kitty Committee, testified about the urgent need for increased city funding for animal welfare, particularly for spay/neuter services and pet food assistance. She highlighted the unsustainable burden on small rescue organizations and the growing cat overpopulation crisis in New York City.

Rein's organization spent nearly $30,000 last year on animal care, including spay/neuter costs
She supports the proposed $1.5 million for spay/neuter services and $1 million for a pet pantry program
Rein emphasized that much more funding is needed to address the estimated 500,000 to 1 million outdoor cats and support low-income pet owners

Chloe Rein

6:14:37

My name is Chloe Rine and I'm the president of small organization, cat rescue organization called Brooklyn Kitty Committee.

6:14:46

I just wanted to start off by saying thank you for hearing us at the last city council hearing September and developing a tangible path towards our city animal welfare.

6:15:00

In 02/2015, a friend asked me to trap a couple of outdoor cats near her home, which actually ended up being 30 cats.

6:15:09

Though I used the cheapest spay neuter services available at the time, the project still cost me $4,000 personally to complete.

6:15:19

My small organization has shouldered the fiscal medical burden of nearly $30,000 just last year, which includes spayed neuter costs.

6:15:31

Though private animal organizations have opened and increased these accessibilities, the version of low cost is still unaffordable for a majority of New Yorkers that qualify, if you even qualify, and the problem then remains and continues to grow in the form of a cat overpopulation crisis.

6:15:53

Relying on the rescue community is an unsustainable model and we are broke.

6:16:00

We're shutting doors, hiding from emails, burning out emotionally and physically, and the city really needs to step up and take responsibility for its shortcomings and allocate funds to push forward our efforts.

6:16:17

The proposal of 1,500,000.0 for spay and neuter services and 1,000,000 for the pet pantry is a very important first step towards this effort to stop the bleeding.

6:16:28

But we also need to remember that these issues need much more funding to assist the 500,000 to 1,000,000 outdoor cats and low income pet parents.

6:16:44

Thank you very much for hearing my attention.

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