Eric Adams' NYC Has No Animal Shelter
NYC DOH's latest ACC shutdown is about to enter its third week, with the mayor's blessing.
The Scoop New York is a website and newsletter covering the movement for a true no-kill New York State, from BUF to BK. NYC ACC KILLS, published by TSNY, enumerates and memorializes adoptable cats and dogs who were exterminated by Animal Care Centers of New York City.
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It’s August 1, 2025. This is The Weekly Poop.
This week, the dire situation currently faced by New York City’s homeless companion animals got worse.
Eric Adams showed up.
In a brief press release dated July 25 — a week after Animal Care Centers of New York City again shut its doors to intakes — Adams announced a $1 million allocation to the kill pound system, “to increase capacity to better care for the shelter [sic] populations in Manhattan and Queens and improve shelter [sic] conditions by supporting the hiring and training of 14 additional staff for those locations.”
As I’ve intimated in this space before, I learned to write because I was that bad at math. Even so, a rudimentary back-of-envelope calculation reveals that one million divided by 14 comes to a shade under $71,500. One could ask how long the mayor intends to employ 14 new staffers for that amount apiece, but the $71K figure doesn’t even account for new expenditures to “increase capacity,” whatever that means.
Also unaddressed: How was the $1M figure calculated? Did the mayor consult with Dr. Michelle Morse, chief among ACC’s supposed minders at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene? How about the City Council, namely health committee chair Lynn Schulman? Was the Mayor’s Office of Animal Welfare involved? If so, how?
In isolation, Adams’ press release reads as if the mayor woke up one summer morning in the mood to help out his city’s homeless cats and dogs. There is no mention of the latest and still-ongoing ACC closure to intakes, beyond a reference to the system “reach[ing] intake capacity.” As if that display of cynical officialdom wasn’t gag-inducing enough, for good measure the mayor gave his constituents the proverbial finger by echoing ACC’s call for them to support a de facto city agency that openly hates New Yorkers who already pay dearly to be victims of its abuse.
No matter. Adams and Morse got what they wanted. Days after the city press corps humane-washed ACC’s latest violation of its open admission contract, among other sins (animals forced to live in their own waste, say), the media by and large showed the mayor himself the same courtesy, heralding his last-minute sofa change contribution as something other than the distraction it was always intended to be.
As if another million added to the sweetheart swindle cooked up by Adams’ dipshit predecessor and his council co-conspirators could begin to make up for years of willfully inflicting pain and death upon the city’s most vulnerable.
As is usually the case when it comes to covering NYC ACC, the Post came closest to getting the story, correctly pointing to GOP mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa as the only politician currently willing to call out City Hall’s kill pound record for what it is.
“The city has completely ignored animal welfare,” Sliwa wrote on X. “Today’s $1M for ACC is a drop in the bucket. ACC has a 34-year contract worth over $1B — and yet our shelters are overcrowded, surrenders are paused, and animals are suffering.”
As of this writing, the ACC website indicates the system has entered its third consecutive week of abbreviated operations, leaving the city’s homeless pets with nowhere to go. Now that the mayor, as far as he’s concerned, has done his bit, there will be no helping them. That burden, as it always has, will fall to everyday New Yorkers.
The Scoop New York asked the city health department, ACC and the Mayor’s Office of Animal Welfare, among other questions, whether DOH has permanently closed ACC to open intakes, officially reneging on its contract with city taxpayers. There was no response.
As for Eric Adams, expect his next trick in five months, when New Yorkers make him disappear.
Here’s the latest New York companion animal news:
You can love companion animals or you can love watching their adoptive families terrorized by the federal government, but not both.
Advocates are pushing NYC lawmakers to adopt “Ryder’s Law” after the carriage operator who worked the horse until he collapsed and had to be euthanized — in no small part thanks to NYC DOH incompetence — was acquitted of misdemeanor cruelty charges.
A rescue in Ossining is fighting a foster couple over possession of nine dogs.
A NY rescue is desperately looking for Marshmallow, who was fostered last year by a Connecticut woman who has since been charged with multiple cruelty counts and says she no longer has the missing dog.
New York City needs more poop bag dispensers, and New Yorkers who will use them.
Looking for more garbage to hoard for your local shelter or rescue? Thought so.
Scroll for the No Kill Advocacy Center’s takedown of factually bereft, grossly irresponsible NYT coverage of NYC ACC.
ASPCA took a break from looking for people to sue to toss some change toward Chautauqua County Humane Society, which will use part of the funds to waive adoption fees.
Meet Lavender, once the “saddest dog in America,” now recovering from a background of severe abuse and soon to be available for adoption from Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in Menands.
And finally: Tiny Emmie found her forever home on that subway car, so it’s OK to exhale.
Adoptables
Would you believe chronically “overpopulated” NYC ACC is holding just one mobile adoption event this weekend?
Meatball is almost 2 years old and has spent much of his life at the shelter. Described as a “big ball of love,” he “can often be seen with a stuffie in his mouth when he isn’t playing tug or fetch.” Take Meatball home from Chautauqua County Humane Society in Jamestown.
Not much is known about Lucille. She’s just a few months old. She’s gorgeous. She’s at Jefferson County SPCA in Watertown. She’s ready to be adopted. What else is there?
Find New York adoptables near you on Dogs in Danger and Adopt a Pet.
The Scoop New York attempts to confirm that animals are still available before we feature them in The Weekly Poop. If an animal you see here has already found a home, consider asking about other available adoptables.
Food recalls
The FDA announced no new pet food recalls this week.
Check here for info on earlier recalls.