With New York's Most Vulnerable Under Attack, What Happens to Four-Legged Family Members?
The bipartisan push to obliterate migrant households won't pause for "collateral" victims, family pets included.
The Scoop New York is a newsletter dedicated to companion animals and the New Yorkers who care for them, from Buffalo to Brooklyn. NYC ACC KILLS, published by TSNY, enumerates and memorializes adoptable cats and dogs who were nonetheless exterminated by Animal Care Centers of New York City.
Headlines from Buffalo to Brooklyn
It’s January 31, 2025. This is The Weekly Poop.
This week, Democrats and Republicans are trying to outdo one another in performative shittiness.
With Donald Trump and Chuck Schumer and Kathy Hochul and Eric Adams on the same page concerning ICE migrant raids, New Yorkers are, as usual, on their own.
Pledges to primarily target undocumented immigrants accused (but not necessarily convicted) of crimes don’t mean much when “collateral arrests” prohibited by the previous administration are assured by the current one. Particularly when the ones doing the snatching are themselves under threat by the wannabe-jackboot in chief.
And now, a sentence I never imagined myself writing: For those who are unmoved by the prospect of parents and children living in constant fear of detention and separation — of small children heading off to school and never coming back — consider, if you will, their pets.
New York City, which Trump is especially hot to terrorize since New Yorkers have his number, has never been safe for companion animals. The city pound system, currently known as Animal Care Centers of New York City, wasn’t founded until the 1990s. The city may not drown caged dogs anymore, but only because it’s messier than poisoning them to death behind closed doors.
As janky as NYC ACC operations are in normal times, it is not at all prepared to, say, guarantee the safety and care of cats and dogs whose family units are obliterated by the federal government. Imagine! I wonder if you can.
Official and quasi-official services for imperiled city residents with pets do exist. But like most social services in the U S of A, it’s less safety net than threadbare sweat sock. There are no city or state resources specifically for aiding households with companion animals in emergency situations. There is no 311 for family pets endangered by ICE. Hell, New York doesn’t even pay to house cats and dogs held as evidence in animal cruelty cases.
So how big an issue is this, really? Who knows! Data concerning migrant-related government actions is sketchy no matter who occupies DC. Not knowing the extent of a problem makes it nearly impossible to address. This, of course, is intentional. If we’re losing track of human beings, whether via evil or incompetence, we sure as shit aren’t worried about their cats.
But we can count on a couple things: If former pets land at NYC ACC — or any New York kill pound — thanks to ICE, there’s a strong possibility he or she won’t make it out alive. And on the off chance that pet-owning families broken up by ICE are ultimately made whole, it will be in spite of craven politicians like Chuck Schumer and company, not thanks to them.
Here’s the latest New York companion animal news:
Related: This week in symbolism, ICE was shadowed in NYC by a cold-blooded dog executioner. (I know what you’re thinking — it wasn’t Risa. This time.)
Related: As the federal government raided the city he’s supposed to be running, Eric Adams literally went into hiding.
Adams loyalist Jenifer Rajkumar has dropped out of the NYC comptroller’s race to challenge incumbent Jumaane Williams for public advocate. OK!
Upper Manhattan Assembly rep Manny De Los Santos intro’d a bill that would allow New Yorkers to use paid sick leave to care for their pets.
If you walk dogs (or walk, period) in the boros, it’s that time of year again.
The National Parks Service alerted Suffolk County dog owners about an outbreak of canine distemper virus — highly contagious and often fatal — that was discovered among raccoons in Patchogue.
Lollypop Farm in Rochester established a free pantry for locals to gift and receive pet food and supplies.
The Times did a feature on Seuk Kim, the hero pilot who died last year while transporting rescue dogs from Virginia to the Albany area.
Related: Pluto and Whiskey, the dogs who survived the Catskills crash, have recovered from injuries and were adopted.
Speaking of heroes: Godspeed, Rakeem Young and Chanel, who saved one another from a random Bronx machete attack.
And finally, your moment of Zen.
Adoptables
NYC ACC will host two mobile adoption events this weekend, in Manhattan and the Bronx.
Champ, pictured above and cooed over here, was saved from NYC ACC and awaits at Pibbles & More Animal Rescue in Binghamton.
Cat-y Perry, also pictured above, is 15 years old and needs a permanent home stat. You’ll find Cat-y and friends at SPCA of Tompkins County.
Find New York adoptables near you on Dogs in Danger and Adopt a Pet.
Food recalls
The FDA has announced one pet food recall this week:
Blue Ridge Beef Natural Mix (salmonella)
Check the FDA recalls page for details.