Eric Adams' Budget Would Ensure Another Year of Suffering and Death at NYC ACC
Eric Adams' Budget Would Ensure Another Year of Suffering and Death at NYC ACC
With $111 billion at his disposal, Eric Adams’ commitment to the animals in his care is worth less to him than 2 hundredths of 1 percent.
Headlines from Buffalo to Brooklyn
It’s Friday, April 26, 2024.
This week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams took a victory lap to spin his executive budget as a series of wins for New Yorkers and, naturally, Eric Adams himself.
But looking over the mayor’s budget proposal reveals that out of $111.6 billion at his disposal, Adams managed to scrounge up all of $18 million and change for NYC ACC.
Never a whiz at math (including very long division), I had to ask Siri for the percentage.
Just to make sure we all heard one another correctly, I asked again. Sure enough, Eric Adams’ commitment to the animals in his care is worth less to him than 2 hundredths of 1 percent.
Now, $18 million in capital improvements is not nothing, and will certainly (well, should certainly) have at least some positive impact at NYC ACC. Whether any of its positive effects will be felt by the lowly cats and dogs stuffed and stacked and shivering in ACC’s hallways is another question.
I’ve seen crawl spaces cleaner than this:
Here’s where ACC crammed this poor puppy:
We do know the Eric Adams budget will do nothing to help New Yorkers afford to spay, neuter, vaccinate, feed, or access affordable ongoing health care for their four-legged household members. It will do nothing to help cat colonies by investing in trap-neuter-return programs that humanely reduce their number — as opposed to ACC’s decidedly less humane spay-neuter-kill program, which continues apace. (See: Snow, whose execution was announced on social media just yesterday.)
And the Eric Adams budget will do nothing to prevent ACC from illegally shutting its doors to the public due to the incompetence and neglect on seemingly eternal display from the people chosen by Adams to run it.
But don’t take it from me. Here’s NYC ACC spokesperson Katy Hansen speaking with the media about horrid conditions at her place of employment:
"Long term, what we really need to do is have some type of low care, low-cost veterinary services to provide to New Yorkers. And it's probably a combination of private and public assistance for that because people love their pets, but it's really expensive."
Hey Katy: You (indirectly) work for the mayor. Hit him up to share your utopian vet care vision?
Until that happens, if a budget is a sign of priorities (it is) Eric Adams cares about companion animals about as much as he cares about his “vegan” diet.
Oh yeah, Hochul’s a deadbeat, too.
Here’s the latest New York companion animal news:
As I was saying: “People cannot afford to live in New York City. And if you can't afford to live in New York City, you can't afford to have a pet, unfortunately.”
April is/was Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month. Some New Yorkers did not get the message. Maybe if the messenger was more into it …
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES. Creeps in the Bronx are snatching up stray cats to use as bait for a dogfighting ring. Rescuers have stepped up after NYPD did nothing about it. (Though the department now claims an investigation is imminent.)
A dog is recovering after s/he was shot by a teenager in Queens.
State Sen. Michelle Hinchey urged the state Assembly to get moving on animal welfare bills.
Over 100 dogs were seized from a home in Rochester and an overburdened rescue urgently needs donations.
The Chautauqua County Humane Society took in 29 cats from a home near Jamestown. Some are now up for adoption.
Good news: Rochester Animal Services is expanding the hours it is open to the public to seven days a week.
Related: Give it up for Rochester fosters.
Humans: Still Finding Ways to Treat One Another Like Garbage, Or NYC Dogs Burdened by People Problems
The animal welfare beat may have just blown up.
This week on The Scoop New York
"No Kill" Was Hijacked by Puppy Killers. Here’s How to Restore Its True Meaning.
The term was co-opted by big money non-profits and “shelters” run by people who wield the needle without remorse.
Food recalls
The FDA released no new pet food recalls this week.
Correction: This post originally misstated the percentage of the Eric Adams budget devoted to animal care. It is less than 2 hundredths of 1 percent, not 2 tenths of 1 percent. Told y’all I suck at math.