UPDATE: As of 7/26/23, ACC has had to close cat intake entirely. Read more here. This city is in a full-blown crisis. 

We share a lot of our own adoptable animals here, but I wanted to take a minute to call attention to the serious overpopulation crisis at NYC’s only open-intake shelter, Animal Care Centers of NYC. They have been overcapacity for quite some time and taking in more animals than they have room for - last week 299 animals were adopted or transferred out to other rescues but 410 came in the doors.

ADOPT

If you are thinking of adding an animal to your family and are near NYC, please check out ACC first. Large dogs and older cats have an adoption fee of just $5 all summer, and you can find a wide variety of dogs there (little guys, huskies, hounds, puppies, you name it).

FOSTER

Otherwise, we’d urge you to consider fostering, for ACC or another organization. And yes, fostering sometimes requires you to be flexible and a little uncomfortable, but fosters are essential parts of the animal rescue world, and it’s really satisfying to save lives and help these little creatures find homes. 

TNR YOUR LOCAL CATS

If you live in an area with lots of stray cats, consider becoming TNR certified and helping to spay and neuter your community’s outdoor cats. If you have a car, rescues always need transport help.

GIVE $$$ AND SUPPLIES

And if you can help in other ways, ACC needs monetary donations and is asking for help in sharing their lovely adoptable animals. Check out this reel for more info: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct_5CBXLo7d/. 

ADVOCATE WITH LAWMAKERS

The systemic issues leading to this crisis cannot be fixed by us as individuals. The city needs to make a real committment to animal welfare, including more funds to keep animals and familes together, widely available access to affordable vet care and spay/neuter services, and a targeted effort to sterilize all street cats in the city. Please advocate to the Mayor's Office, your local City Council member and state representatives for more funding to finally tackle these issues once and for all.

Things are really at a crisis point for animal welfare in NYC. There are far more animals in need of assistance than there are foster or permanent homes, with more being born each day. This work is mostly done by volunteers, just like me and you.

Please reach out if you’d like to become involved and I can point you in the right direction.