It would be disingenuous for anyone to claim that the ACC hasn't improved since the dark days of late 2011.  That's when the DOH promised to stop starving the ACC and begin putting money into the shelter system rather than taking money out.  In exchange, the DOH demanded the repeal of a law requiring it to build shelters for the Bronx and Queens.

ACC services and conditions slowly began improving with a noticeable bump starting in 2013.  Double the staff.  New and restored services.  Better attempts at fundraising.  A more polished PR and social media presence.  A kill rate that keeps going down.  All good news.    

Yet despite those improvements, disease continues unchecked in the old, dilapidated, and overcrowded buildings the DOH forces the ACC to use as "shelters."  And far too many dogs and cats on various "holds" continue to be ignored.

Against that backdrop, the public learned of

- Overcrowding at the Manhattan shelter,

-  Lax oversight and handling of vaccines and controlled substances,

-  A disease-spreading ventilation system at the Brooklyn shelter.

Poor DOH inspectors.  Apparently all are blind and lack a sense of smell.  Once a week over the past 20 years they've inspected each ACC shelter but never spotted overcrowding.  Or ever thought that an empty garage at the Manhattan shelter could be put to better use.  Or ever detected noxious odors or saw animals sick in their cages. Or ever discovered animal body parts stored alongside vaccines, medications stashed in lunchroom fridges, and controlled substances lacking controls. 

DOH inspectors should bless the Comptroller for restoring their vital senses.  Thanks for pointing those problems out to us, they said.  Who knew?  

The ACC promised to tighten up its bookkeeping, remove peeling paint and defective fire alarms, and computerize and regulate their handling and storage of vital medications, vaccines and controlled substances.  Problem solved.  

The DOH promised to build a Manhattan Shelter Adoptions Center on the site of the unused garage to ease overcrowding and install a new HVAC system in Brooklyn.  Problem solved.    

So what if the claimed benefits of these DOH promises are overblown and the projects won't materialize any time soon?  Surely it's enough that promises were made and some of the easy fixes already implemented?  ACC management assured its rescue partners that Stringer's charges were "hyperbole" and old news.  Problem solved. 

Really? 

WHAT'S BEHIND THE LATEST DOH PROMISES  

Four months ago the DOH unexpectedly announced new goodies for the AC&C, including an Adoptions Center and a new HVAC.  At the time, ACC Executive Director Weinstock explained this was in recognition of the ACC's having "earned" this new beneficence.   

With the release of the Stringer Audit, we now realize that the DOH had acted out of pure self-interest:

-  To deflect the Audit's impact in advance of its release; and  

-  To defuse the momentum inside the City Council to pass a new law requiring the DOH to build and maintain shelters in the Bronx and Queens.

Comptroller Stringer isn't so easily persuaded:

"The Bronx and Queens should have full service shelters of their own. That would certainly relieve the crowded conditions we see," Stringer noted last week. 

Yet the DOH's strategy might be working.  Despite impassioned speeches by City Council members and animal advocates alike at a recent City Council Health Committee hearing, the Shelters Bill still sits in committee.  It might not be stalled simply over the question of how much to fund the bill (from the DOH budget), but rather, on whether there's a need for 2 more full-service shelters.  

The supposedly "independent" ACC damaged the bill's chances when the ACC echoed the DOH's position.  To be clear, first ACC Executive Director Risa Weinstock said she was for more shelters ... but only if they were fully-funded.  (She was absolutely right on that point.)  Then she turned around and said that Bronx and Queens actually don't need full-service shelters.  "Something in-between" would do the trick. 

If the "independent" entity running NYC's shelter system says Bronx and Queens don't need their own full-service shelters, that should end the debate, right?

Well, not if the ACC really isn't "independent" from the government agency that opposes paying for those shelters.  

THE PRESSURE FOR AN INDEPENDENT AC&C

We're not the only ones to doubt claims of ACC independence.  Although not part of the metrics of a Comptroller audit, the ACC's troubling governance structure hasn't eluded Mr. Stringer's attention.  In early 2013 Stringer released a groundbreaking "Led Astray" Report on reforming the ACC.  Without acknowledging their debt to his report, the ACC began to follow several of its recommendations, but conspicuously not the central recommendation: the ACC's actual (not pretend) independence from the DOH.  That's because independence is not within the ACC's unilateral power to secure. 

Stringer acknowledged Weinstock's efforts: "[S]he's trying to move the ACC in the right direction, and I give her credit."  But Stringer argued that despite Weinstock's efforts, "[w]e need a top to bottom overhaul of ACC management structure." See link.   

Mr. Stringer and animal advocates say the solution for Animal Care & Control is to operate more like an independent charity, akin to the Central Park Conservancy ... .

"We have to get Animal Care & Control an independent nonprofit board that is large and diverse so that we can bring both new resources and new expertise to the animal welfare system," said Mr. Stringer. See link.

RESCUERS STRUGGLE TO MAKE UP FOR ACC DEFICIENCIES

With disease going unchecked in its shelters, ACC places increasing reliance on rescue groups to pull and try to patch up many of the animals that fall ill at the shelters.  As Stringer noted: "The animals come in healthy and go out sick."   While ACC kill rates go down, animal suffering and associated rescuer costs go up.  It's not a fair or happy balance.  It's certainly not the hallmark of a world class shelter that our world class city deserves. 

Stringer invited ACC rescuers and animal advocates to stand alongside him last week.    

Adelia Honeywood Harrison representing Uncaged New York spoke of the financial burden rescuers face as they try to restore to health animals that fall ill at the ACC or who arrive injured and the ACC is unable to treat.  Thus it was "disturbing" to learn how the ACC stores and mishandles the very drugs needed to treat illness and prevent pain. 

Bill Sacrey of the League of Humane Voters commended Stringer for his commitment to NYC's animals.  "Untethering ACC from DOH will unleash an outpouring of support for the animals from caring individuals and organizations."

Esther Koslow of Shelter Reform Action Committee echoed Comptroller Stringer's call for a truly independent AC&C: "No more loyalists or apologists for the DOH."

Marion Koenig representing the Bronx Animal Shelter Endeavor (B.A.S.E.) described how nothing has dampened her borough's need for its own shelter.  The Stringer Audit notes overcrowding. Wouldn't full-service shelters for the Bronx and Queens relieve that very problem? 

State Senator Brad Hoylman was also present and expressed support for Mr. Stringer's efforts to protect our City's homeless animals.

In concluding his prepared statement, Stringer said:  

"Our city must do more. It's time to fix our ACC once and for all."   

We agree.   

Click here for our previous report on the news coverage of the Audit and Mr. Stringer's press conference.