Dear Friend,
This week I released a report that exposed rampant mismanagement and neglect within the City's animal shelter system. "Led Astray" pulls the curtain back on Animal Care and Control, the nonprofit controlled by the City's Department of Health. Adoptions are down 37% over six years, fundraising is lackluster, and with eight Executive Directors in ten years and no Medical Director for three, AC&C is an agency crying out for wholesale reform. If that's not enough, reports from volunteers and rescue groups indicate that when Superstorm Sandy hit, AC&C all but shut their doors.
New York's animals deserve better, and so do its taxpayers. That's why I propose that AC&C is transitioned into an independent nonprofit led by a diverse board of directors with fundraising and animal welfare expertise. We should model it after the Central Park Conservancy, a nonprofit that raises millions every year - $38 million in 2012 to be exact - to beautify and enhance a beloved public park. Let's transform this beleaguered agency into a thriving public-private partnership and create a shelter system of which New Yorkers can be proud of.
Join the 11,500 others that have already joined our campaign to reform AC&C by signing our petition, and learn more about the report in the NY Daily News, and on Good Day New York, NY1 and NBC4.
Sincerely,
Scott Stringer