Hundreds of Dogs Turned Away From Syracuse's Barely-There "Shelter"

After years of failing to care for homeless companion animals, Syracuse may finally be forced to step up. But don't count on it.

Jul 26, 2024

Tanner, currently available for adoption in Syracuse.

Hello all. I’m trying something new this week. To this point, I’ve attempted each Friday to include a few links to adoptable animals in the bulleted headline stack. “New York adoptables” is now its own section of the column, and will include photos of animals up for adoption from around the state. Thanks. — BA

Headlines from Buffalo to Brooklyn

It’s July 26, 2024. This is The Weekly Poop.

This week, Syracuse.com reported that the facility paid to care for the city’s homeless companion animals has barely been doing its job.

When good Samaritans tried to help two abandoned dogs they found earlier this month, they were turned away from public and private facilities across Syracuse and Onondaga County, the story says.

“That’s when full panic set in,” said Racquel Doris, one of the Samaritans, who has six dogs in addition to two foster dogs.

The story goes on to say that the city has refused hundreds of dogs this year.

Syracuse has an annual budget of $341 million (not accounting for its school system). This year the city is allocating $500,000 — less than two-tenths of 1 percent of $341 million — to care for homeless and abandoned dogs. That’s “more than double” what it normally spends, according to Syracuse.com.

“But the money isn’t coming close to solving the problem,” the story reads.

The crisis has led to cruelty: families leave their dogs behind in apartments following evictions, sometimes for months. Animal cruelty officers recently found two dogs alone in an apartment eight months after their owner moved out. They were being kept in crates. Last month, three dead dogs were discovered along Onondaga Creek.

The story cites COVID, landlords, and the economy as contributing factors to the city’s failure to care for homeless dogs. These are reasons, but they are not excuses.

On second thought, they may not even be reasons:

The city has only been able to take in 82 dogs since January, on track to be about half of last year’s total of 292 dogs. Just 45 dogs have been adopted, and only nine have been reunited with the families that lost them. Those numbers are far below previous years, including before the pandemic.

So Syracuse has reportedly placed just 54 dogs this year, after taking in far fewer than is typical. Yet the city is dumping dogs on the public while pleading poverty. If this sounds familiar, it’s because animal pounds in other municipalities, most prominently New York City, are following the same MO.

“Syracuse has been talking about getting its own dog shelter for more than a decade,” Syracuse.com reports, “but it’s never moved past talk.”

And there’s your lede. Politicians of the present are dealing (or not) with decades of neglect, if not malfeasance, by their forebears. For years and years, New York counties, towns and cities have failed to address the homeless companion animal issue with the seriousness required. For years and years, politicians have failed to move past talk, relying instead on everyday New Yorkers to do their jobs for them. This was a choice.

Now, it seems, the bill has come due. The question is whether current electeds — in Syracuse and statewide — will cover it or continue passing the check to their constituents.

Here’s the latest New York companion animal news:

Good news: Rocket, the poodle rescued by NYPD after he was viciously beaten by his would-be caretaker, has recovered and (according to the ASPCA) was placed for adoption.
Related: Cleopatra Morgan, Rocket’s alleged abuser, pled not guilty to aggravated animal cruelty and is next due in court in August, according to court records.
A Westchester kennel and rescue owner was arrested after four puppies and their mother slowly died from lack of medical care.
A Hamburg man was indicted for allegedly leaving three kittens to die in the snow, killing two.
Pepper the cursing parrot was adopted by a family in Olean.
Buffalo has a guinea pig rescue, and like all rescues it needs money.
PETA is monitoring a (seemingly accidental) pigeon trap in Manhattan.
Royal Canin announces deal with NYC ACC, propagates ACC’s bogus live release rate.
NYPD dogs are in Paris for the Olympics, sniffing for explosives and seeing the sights.
Here’s more on how big money is making vet care less personable and more expensive.
It’s not NY-related, but Gizmo’s unreal, bittersweet story is worth a read.