FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 12, 2000
| Contact: | Sunny Mindel/Edward Skyler (212) 788-2958 |
The next bill before me is Introductory Number 567-A, sponsored by Speaker Vallone and Council Members Robles, Freed and Rivera in conjunction with my Administration.
This legislation would amend the City's Administrative Code by requiring a full service animal shelter, licensed by the Department of Health, to be maintained in each borough. The bill would also mandate, with some exceptions, the sterilization of dogs and cats adopted from animal shelters or purchased from pet shops. These exceptions include a dog or cat's health, if the dog or cat is a show animal, or if the dog is a guide dog, hearing dog, service dog or police dog.
According to the Center for Animal Care and Control, which operates animal shelters under contract with the City's Department of Health, 60,000 unwanted, stray or abandoned dogs and cats entered its facilities in 1999. Of these 60,000 close to 70% were not spayed or neutered. Unfortunately, these dogs and cats wander the City's streets posing both health and safety problems for New Yorkers. In addition, they reproduce at an alarming rate, which only further exacerbates the problem. Moreover, while DOH and the CACC have made tremendous efforts regarding adoptions by finding 14,000 pets homes each year, unfortunately approximately 38,000 pets are still euthenized. According to the CACC, 11,000 of these animals would have been eligible for adoption.
By requiring an animal shelter in every borough, and by mandating the spaying or neutering of these dogs and cats, the number of unwanted animals will clearly diminish, and the safety of all New Yorkers, as well as the safety of the animals themselves, will be enhanced.
For the reasons previously stated, I will now sign the bill.
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