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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Sonja Chai, Managing Director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, on NYC's Homeless Cat Population Crisis
5:07:14
·
112 sec
Sonja Chai, Managing Director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, presents a compelling case for the urgency of addressing New York City's homeless cat population crisis. Using conservative estimates and simple math, she illustrates the staggering number of kittens born and dying on the streets annually, highlighting the inadequacy of current shelter and rescue capacities.
- Estimates the homeless cat population in NYC between 500,000 to 1,000,000
- Calculates that even at the lowest estimate, 1.8 million kittens die annually on NYC streets
- Points out that current shelter intake (18,500 cats in 2023) is vastly insufficient to address the problem
- Expresses gratitude to chairs Brannan and Schulman for recognizing the urgency of the issue
Sonja Chai
5:07:14
My name is Sonia Chai.
5:07:15
I'm managing director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, which operates Brooklyn Cat Cafe and BBWC Rescue Clinic.
5:07:22
Today you will hear estimates of the size of New York City's Homeless cat population that range from 500,000 to 1,000,000 animals.
5:07:29
This large range coupled with the fact that some New Yorkers can go years without actually seeing a cat outside can make the crisis more abstract than it really is.
5:07:37
So I'm gonna walk everyone through some simple math to help bring the magnitude of the crisis to life.
5:07:42
I'm starting with the lowest population estimate of 500 ks applying some benchmark statistics from existing studies of homeless cat populations.
5:07:51
So assuming half of those cats are female, around 70% of them are unspayed, and that these unspayed female cats are having about three litters a year with an average of four kittens.
5:08:01
That is 2,400,000 kittens born outside each year.
5:08:06
Now we also know that seventy five percent of them will not survive to six months.
5:08:12
So that means a minimum of one point eight million kittens are dying annually on the streets of New York City, while the surviving kittens, about 600,000, are over doubling the size of the existing population.
5:08:25
Even at these conservative estimates, the collective capacity of our existing shelter and rescue network is insufficient to support these numbers.
5:08:33
According to shelter animals count, total cat intake across all New York City reporting organizations was around 18,500 cats in 2023.
5:08:42
Worse, overall feline intake actually declined between 2017 and 2023, which is the years with available data.
5:08:49
That means over 90% of the homeless cat population will continue to face unfathomable amounts of death and suffering without drastic and sustained action.
5:08:57
We're really grateful to chairs Brandon and Schulman for recognizing the urgency of the issue and hope this is the beginning of many years of community collaboration.
5:09:05
Thank you.