This is OUR Freakin' Shelter!

Let me make one thing clear before I get into this blog entry -

No, I do not think we should give up reforming New York Animal Care and Control, our city shelter. We should continue to fight tooth and nail (okay, maybe not "nail") to get it out from under NYC's DOH's thumb, we should continue to fight for them to hire better management (maybe hiring an animal lover to the BOD and Executive Director position would be a decent start), and we should keep fighting for greater transparency about what the heck is going on in there (as there's no way that the stories that we all hear can't come with another side...here's the latest unbelievable story making the Internet rounds - please tell me there's another side).

We all know that any progress made in that area is due, not to the ACC's management or BOD, but due to the rescue groups, those who work with the rescue groups, and the volunteers and some of the staff at the ACC. I say "some" because, well, as with any organization, some staff will just work there for the paycheck, which isn't tragic when you're an accountant (ahem)  but it is when you are in charge of animals.

BOTTOM LINE - As long as the DOH runs the show, the city's homeless animals will NEVER be a priority, and there's no reason to believe that the DOH will be relinquishing control anytime soon. So, for any more progress to be made in lowering the euthanasia rate, it's up to US.


I's time we all took the bull by the horns (ok, maybe not the "horns") and redoubled our efforts to do what, at the end of the day, is all we really care about, and that's getting as many animals out of there alive as possible.

Every single one of us should think "What more can I do?" and do it. Here are just a few ideas ...

1 - Apply to work or volunteer at the shelter (I know, they make it extremely difficult to volunteer there, but just think of how the animals appreciate it, and by perhaps giving the animals an extra walk a day, you will relieve their stress, making them less energetic, and therefore easier to adopt out)

2 - Not only share the animals close to being euthanized on Urgent Part 2's Facebook page (I will link later if you don't know them) but really try to get your animal-friendly friends involved (if you just share animals every day, most of your friends will just start ignoring it), or

3 - Volunteer at one of the dozens of animal rescues around the city (My rescue can use someone to help with fundraising - speaking of, anyone wanna buy a t-shirt? We're having a sale! Only $15 each or two for $25!)

I will write more in subsequent blogs about other ways to help...

What am I doing to help?

I am allocating a percentage of Stewie to the Rescue's financial resources to pledge for rescues to pull animals about to be killed at the shelter.

While I ain't gonna stop bitchin', I do think it's time we ALL stepped up our action.

This shelter "system" is a black eye for all New Yorkers. And being a city owned shelter in a city that we live in, this is our freakin' shelter in more ways than one!

If history has taught us anything, it's that we can't depend on anyone but us to make it better.

One last thing - Quite frankly, I don't care if Julie Bank or Bloomberg or Farley or anyone who has done nothing to help, takes credit (as Bank did at the last ACC BOD meeting, not only ignoring Urgent Part 2's obvious role, but actually condemning it). All I give a crap about is that the killing stop.

Enough is enough...

Harris Bloom
Founder/President
http://www.stewietotherescue.org/