NYC shelters

Animal shelters in New York City have undergone a lot of adjustments because of new funding and animal activists to keep healthy alive longer. This has been raised as a high priority problem because an exceptional amount of times that healthy, non-violent dogs have been euthanized after just one week. If these animals had proper laws and funding, puppies, and dogs would have a much higher chance at a real life.

There are so many ways to help shelters that there is little to no excuse for the city to do so. The strategies begin very simply. Advertising and really pushing adoption over buying dogs and giving benefits to adopting dogs. A lot of people have the misconception that they cannot adopt a pure breed, and shelters only have mixed breeds without any family histories.This isn’t the case! Although it’s more common to find a mixed breed shelters do have pure breeds and people need to just search a little harder for them. Shelters serve as a haven for dogs and puppies that have been strayed, or neglected. So they were probably previously owned and sometimes even bought from breeders. I’m not saying buying from a breeder is a bad idea or dog owners should feel guilty because sometimes its very tough to find a pure bred but I do believe strongly that dog owners should put the effort in before going to a breeder.

Another reason is if someone wants a brand new puppy and they believe that shelters only have dogs and there must be something wrong with them if no one else wanted them or gave them up. Also, very misleading. If there are dogs there generally there is a good reason like abandonment, or because their owners were unfit or could not take care of them anymore. In regardless to the the dogs reasons, there are always puppies! Stray puppies are found all the time and brought to shelters. The dogs found could be pregnant too which is actually pretty common since a lot of people decide they cannot deal with a pregnant dog. Puppies in shelters do not any easier of a life then the dogs do. They are not given a long life, or even a real chance to be adopted. I’m defining a real chance as longer then a few weeks. 

An example of both these points is when I went to volunteer at a shelter in New Orleans. The day I arrived there was a rescue Siberian Husky from a very un fit owner. She had given birth to seven healthy Siberian Husky pure bred puppies 7 weeks earlier all ready for adoption and all from an un fit home. All of these puppies were pure bred and young. The mother herself was young and a very friendly sweet dog that would have fit into any home.

In October 2011, New York Assembly Member Amy Paulin proposed a ground breaking law to help animals across the state. A.B 5449. It requires the state shelters to turn over dogs ready for euthanasia to rescue groups. She says, “ I think that there is a need because there will be shelters that simply won’t work with rescues or even try to save animals from euthanasia and the message to them is that this is now a priority....Delaware and California have laws mandating shelters animals she turned over to 501c3s that the request them if they are going to be euthanized.”

This New York law helps build a foundation for shelters and rescue groups. Even if the dogs are bad, but have not committed crimes they will still be given to rescue groups for help and not directly to the euthanasia by the shelters.

In May 2011, State Assembly Member Micah Kellner proposed a bill that allowed animal rescue grounds and humane societies to adopt dogs from shelters. Generally, dogs and puppies were only adopted out to individuals and the groups were turned away. The groups would get around this bu adopting a dog out to the individual member who went in there and not the group as a whole. 

  “There are thousands of animals in New York State shelters waiting to be adopted and most are healthy, well-behaved, and jut in need of  loving home,” - Micah Kellner

Rescue groups have been doing a good job at taking dogs who were bound to be put down into their care, but still the citizens of New York are unaware of the rate dogs are put to sleep in shelters. The people of New York needs to see statistics, it’s no secret that New Yorkers are hardened by the amount of crime and poverty they see daily; so a sad commercial will not do it for them. A real chart, graph, table or stat shown to the city will demonstrate in their language what is really going on and how to stop it. New York is a city filled with dog walkers, doggy day care, dog groomers, pet-friendly buildings, even pet therapists. New Yorkers are good people who have a strong passion for dogs based upon these qualities and business’s that thrive there. They just need to be more aware, which is where the shelters and animal groups need to reach them on a different level.

In October 2012, a Pitbull puppy was found in Queens, NY tied up in a parking lot. He was estimated to be about 6-7 months old with injuries to his back leg and various other dog bites. It was assumed that he was the victim of dog fighting rings. However, he was described as being a very friendly puppy who was scared and hurt. He was taken to the vet, given all of his shots, neutered, and cleared for adoption based off of his gentle personality. Because of his back leg injury the puppy would need surgery and $250 dollars to be taken from the shelter. He was only given one week at the shelter before he was euthanized. 

In New York state there is a holding period for shelters to house an animal. The minimum if five days before the animal can be adopted or euthanized. Also, New York does not make a distinction between licensed and unlicensed animals. Animals that are easily identified through tags, tattoo,s microchips should be allowed a longer amount of time but they are not granted that. These pets could have once had a home and need al longer time for their owners to find them, or to find new owners if they were abandoned

Chart Source:

: Pets - Shelters, Pounds, And Euthanasia - Animals, Animal, Rescue, and Dogs http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/2206/Pets-SHELTERS-POUNDS-

These laws have helped shelters dramatically over the years. The number of euthanization has dropped dramatically between 2003 and 2008, after 2011 the numbers are forecasted to be even lower. However, it still is not enough for New York City’s dogs and puppies. Rescue groups and shelters need funding, and a lot more of it. The dogs should be more comfortable, and have a longer life in both places. Funding can come from numerous sources, although the pathos-ridden shelter commercials do help, they don’t get the message across to enough people still. Flyers, ads, more detailed easily accessible websites need to come into play. Also, New Yorkers love fund raisers. If these shelters had more fund raisers, and more speakers for these animals people would be more aware. Shelter dogs are not bad dogs and that needs to be well known as it is not.

If shelters could just get the small push to alert the public that dogs and puppies in their facilities are good dogs and would be perfect in a home just as a breeder dog would it would help them. Advertising pure bred dogs and happy puppies instead of just sad beaten dogs would show people what a shelter really is. It all boils down to misconception. People think shelter dogs are bad dogs, so they buy. Shelters think no one will adopt them, so they euthanize. 

The blame is not totally on the shelters, they do need to work hand in hand with rescue groups, though. They do need more funding, but it’s also New York’s citizens. The people need to recognize the dogs in there, and once that happens there will be a domino effect on the shelters and rescue groups.