Animal Care Centers of New York City is preparing for one of the bloodiest killing streaks in recent memory: 54 cats and dogs are facing death for the crime of being homeless in NYC.
In 2025, ACC killed an average of one cat or dog every three hours. Fifty-four victims on death row translates to more than two exterminations per hour. If they don’t get to all of them tomorrow, there are two more rounds of elective obliterations coming on Thursday and Saturday, as always.
The carnage planned for tomorrow comes after ACC exterminated 15 dogs over the past four days. Several of those 15 victims were in solitary confinement — no outside contact, no walks, no potty breaks — before they were dragged to the extermination room.
In addition, ACC reportedly has more than 80 dogs living in pop-up crates. Under a New York law that took effect last December, pop-up crates are only to be used by rescues, shelters and kill pounds for temporary emergencies. However, The Scoop New has seen no indication that ACC’s use of crates has ebbed since the law took effect.
Related TSNY queries to ACC, NYC DOH and the state official responsible for enforcing ACC crate restrictions — Richard Ball, commissioner of the state department of agriculture — have gone unanswered.
As reported by The Scoop New York, killings at ACC surged during the first five months of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s term, compared to the first five months of 2025. Before ACC released the June kill data report, the Mamdani administration deleted figures related to “silent kills” — animals ACC exterminates without being offered for foster or adoption, in defiance of the agency’s contract with New Yorkers. By doing so, Mamdani instantly erased about half of ACC’s victims from the public record.
Queries to Mamdani’s office concerning the increase in ACC killings, the missing data and dogs living in their own waste in solitary confinement were met with silence. In fact, since he declared his candidacy for mayor last year, Mamdani has failed to answer any questions from the only news outlet covering his kill pound.
There are plenty more questions for Mamdani, and ACC, and DOH, and Richard Ball, where those came from. How long we’re able to keep asking depends on reader support. If you value having eyes on NYC ACC, and you can afford it, please consider a paid TSNY subscription. Monthly subs are $5. Both annual subscription tiers are currently 20 percent off. Details here. Thank you.
(Apologies for the crappy picture quality. At publication time, Substack hadn’t yet processed the HD version. Again.)
