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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPlease kick this OP if you love animals:Animal Deaths Down,Adoptions Up Amid Reforms at NYC Shelters
Animal Deaths Down and Adoptions Up Amid Reforms at New York Shelters
By ANDY NEWMAN and JESSICA NAUDZIUNAS on Publish Date January 20, 2016. Photo by Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times.
For a place often associated with confinement, suffering and death, the city animal shelter in Manhattan was a pretty happy spot last Friday afternoon, at least in the backyard.
A half-dozen pit bull mixes chased one another across an asphalt run behind the shelter, a cinder-block bunker on East 110th Street in Harlem, dancing and wrestling in midair.
Euthanasia rates dropped sharply in 2015, down 36 percent for dogs and 25 percent for cats, according to statistics the agency plans to release at its annual board meeting on Friday. Adoptions rose by 17 percent.
In 2003, the shelters killed more than 60 percent of the dogs and the cats they took in. That number is down to 13 percent now.
Still, last year, over 3,000 cats and nearly 1,000 dogs were put to death at the overcrowded shelters. And private rescue groups, which adopt more than half of the shelters animals, say that all too often, animals that are brought in healthy get sick and either die or saddle their rescuers with high veterinary bills.
But there is fresh hope on that front, too: A design firm the city hired last year is scouting sites to build full-service shelters in the Bronx and Queens, something advocates, lawmakers and Animal Care Centers itself have long urged.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/nyregion/animal-adoptions-rise-amid-reforms-at-new-yorks-shelters.html?_r=0
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for my 10,000th post, i wanted it to be something very near and dear to me. i have worked for years in animal rescue, including working to get animals out of these very nyc facilities. i have seen too much suffering and heartbreak. i and an army of dedicated others have had too many tear filled days, seeing healthy animals be killed and knowing that we could not get them all out. we, and more importantly, the animals, have waited far too long for these types of reforms. there is still much to be done, but this is a major step forward.
please kick if you love animals, and remember: adopt don't shop.
and for all of our disagreements in politics, i enjoy "talking" to all of you
thanks, everyone. namaste
RKP5637
(67,111 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)and kitties
I have one of each.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)hope your babies get along!!
UtahLib
(3,179 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)They are funny to watch play together
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)lunamagica
(9,967 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)She was sick as hell when I adopted her and she had only been there for 4 days. She was in 2 whole days before they put her on the euthanasia list and she was just a puppy. She was abused and underweight and terrified. Best, sweetest, smartest dog ever.
This is good news and there were many many many good people tirelessly working to make these changes but much more needs to be done.
ETA I did get her through a New Hope partner!!
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)but sounds like she is in doggie heaven now!
its a big step of many more steps, but its about damn time
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)The world turns at her feet. She's a big cuddly baby and people love her so much they've actually adopted pits from shelters because she's such an incredible ambassador for her breed. One of my dearest friends adopted one who had been in a no-kill for 3 years because she loved our girl so much.
I have one other dog and 3 kitties and they're all rescues. Like you said--adopt don't shop!
Another ETAA - she was due to be out down 2 hours after I rescued her. Too close. I was frantic to get her out of there. Thank god for the New Hope partner I dealt with or I'd never have gotten to her on time.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)to the greatnesss of pitties.
yes, amazing how we end up being their dutiful servants.....what is that saying? dogs have owners, cats have employees, or something
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)enigmatic
(15,021 posts)IdaBriggs
(10,559 posts)Kick and thank you.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)the Mutts comic strip. http://www.mutts.com
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)you can get on their mailing list and they'll email it to you daily.
JudyM
(29,251 posts)Congrats on your 10,000th!!
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)TuxedoKat
(3,818 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)CharlotteVale
(2,717 posts)are both presently curled up next to me.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)lovemydog
(11,833 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)Donkees
(31,419 posts)IcyPeas
(21,892 posts)but where's the kitty?
K&R too. and meow and woof.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)Heidi
(58,237 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)Duppers
(28,125 posts)For the souls growing fur and the folks like you who love them.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)A-Schwarzenegger
(15,596 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)veness
(413 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)thank you!!
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)meow2u3
(24,764 posts)who otherwise would have met an untimely death through no fault of their own.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)summerschild
(725 posts)and I love people who love puppies and kitties -
K&R
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)lasttrip
(1,013 posts)Peace.
LT