2007 End-of-Year Message - Out of the Cage! - Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, Inc.

Home > Out of the Cage! > 2007 End-of-Year Message - Volume 4: Issue 5

Maddie, the Maddie's Fund mascot, celebrates the holidays with (clockwise from top right) Donovan, Alegra, Paloma, and Jawann, children of staff members at NYC's Animal Care & Control (AC&C). Peanut, the calico kitten, was later adopted from AC&C.

The E-Newsletter of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

Out of the Cage!

2007 End-of-Year Message - Volume 4: Issue 5

This holiday season, as we reflect upon the year that's quickly drawing to a close, we have many reasons to celebrate. Working together, and with your generous support on behalf of the homeless dogs and cats in our city, we have moved closer to our goal: the day when no New York City dog or cat of reasonable health and temperament is killed merely because he or she does not have a home.

While we know that we're not yet saving every animal, and that pains us, we can feel some satisfaction in the strides that we've made. Here on the eve of Year 4 in our ten-year campaign to transform NYC into a no-kill community, we can take heart in the fact that we are on the right track and that, over time, we will reach our ultimate goal. Although our final year-end results will not be available until after the first of the new year, here's a snapshot of our successes so far this year:

•	In 2007, Mayor's Alliance Maddie's Pet Partners (MPPs), including Animal Care & Control (AC&C), adopted just over 25,200 animals, up by 8.5% over 2006, and up by 96% since 2003, the first year of the Alliance efforts.

•	Euthanasia of dogs and cats at AC&C has been reduced from 20,400 in 2006 to 17,500 in 2007, down by 14%.
•	Since the beginning of the Alliance efforts in 2003, euthanasia at AC&C has been reduced from 31,700 dogs and cats to 17,500 in 2007, a reduction of 45%.

•	The number of cats and dogs transferred from AC&C to other shelters and rescue organizations for adoption in 2007 rose 22%, from 9,937 in 2006 to 12,100 in 2007, and rose 120% from 5,520 in 2003, our first year of operation.

•	The Mayor's Alliance Wheels of Hope program (operating multiple transport vans -- often seven days a week) transported 2,500 animals to Alliance Participating Organizations (APOs), veterinary hospitals, temporary boarding facilities, and animal sanctuaries. Wheels of Hope transports account for more than 20% of the animals moved out of AC&C to APOs.
•	Approximately 6,500 dogs and cats were spayed or neutered through Maddie's Spay/Neuter Project NYC. This program provides low-cost spays and neuters for pets of New York City residents who have a Medicaid card.
•	Thanks to the Picasso Veterinary Fund of the Mayor's Alliance, over 700 dogs and cats received the medical care they needed, and a second chance for a good life. The Picasso Veterinary Fund is supported exclusively by private donations from individuals and businesses. The fund pays for extraordinary medical care for sick and injured animals who are transferred from AC&C to APOs that will find them good homes.
•	Now in its third year of operation, the NYC Feral Cat Initiative of the Mayor's Alliance has registered 436 feral cat colonies in the NYC Feral Cat Database, a tool that is helping us to measure the success of trap-neuter-return (TNR) in humanely reducing the feral cat population in NYC. In 2007 the Initiative orchestrated or assisted in TNR projects throughout New York City that resulted in 1,131 cats sterilized and returned to their colonies and 942 cats and kittens rescued for adoption. This year the Initiative provided TNR training to 249 individuals and provided phone/e-mail advice for 4,605 inquiries.
•	Three hundred and fifty (350) dogs and cats were microchipped at 14 Mayor's Alliance low-cost microchipping clinics in 2007. Microchipping is part of our effort to promote responsible pet guardianship, along with licensing dogs, to increase the number of lost pets returned to their owner/guardians. Since our first low-cost microchipping clinic in 2005, we have microchipped more than 1,000 dogs and cats.

Our successes could not have happened were it not for the dedication and hard work of hundreds of people whose organizations are working together under the Mayor's Alliance banner. Each and every one of these groups and individuals are making it possible for us to believe that New York City will be a no-kill community in the foreseeable future.

Just as adoptions and spay/neuter programs go hand in glove to reach no-kill, so does hard work and financial support. We are grateful for the crucial financial support we receive from Maddie's Fund, and are proud to have the honorary position of being the largest Maddie's Pet Project in the country. We are thankful to the ASPCA, a founding member of the Mayor's Alliance, for its financial support and commitment to the work we do. And we are appreciative to all the individuals and businesses that support our programs with their donations, those who volunteer their time and talents for our cause, and those extraordinary people who adopted a Little New Yorker into their families.

Working together, we have made tremendous strides in our journey to no-kill. We have saved thousands of wonderful lives that, without our efforts, sadly would have been lost. And we have achieved these successes as a result of the hard work of our participating organizations, including the dedicated staff and volunteers at NYC's Animal Care & Control.

How far we've come!…yet how far we still have to go. But by reaching our yearly goals, over time we will create a no-kill community in NYC.

Our challenge in 2008 is to work harder. To work smarter. And to continue to work together in the spirit of collaboration on which the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals was founded. Our collaborative model in New York City has been an inspiration to communities across the country. We must continue to be a beacon of successful collaboration, to improve upon our methods, and take our lessons learned to build a stronger, more effective operation. By doing so, we will remain on track in our journey to transform our extraordinary city into a more humane, no-kill community.

Savannah, a former AC&C dog, is celebrating the holidays this year with his new adoptive family.

This holiday season, we hope you will include the homeless dogs and cats of our city on your holiday list and join in our success by making a gift that will help save a life. It's easy to do, and it means so much to the animals who are awaiting their forever homes. You can make a convenient donation online, or send a check, payable to Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, to Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, 244 Fifth Avenue, Suite R290, New York, NY 10001.

As you make plans for 2008, we also hope you will also consider visiting www.AnimalAllianceNYC.org to learn more about our work, Alliance Participating Organizations, the successes you have helped us create, and upcoming opportunities to volunteer or adopt.

We wish your entire family — two-footed, four-footed, feathered and finny — a happy, healthy, and humane holiday season...and a new year filled with wonderful surprises.

Jane Hoffman

President, Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

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Newsletter Team

Editor-in-Chief: Steve Gruber

Art Director: Krista Menzel

Senior Writer: Steve Gruber

Photographer: Geoffrey Tischman

The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals welcomes reprints of the articles in Out of the Cage! To request permission to reprint any of these articles, please contact us at info@AnimalAllianceNYC.org.