“Why are you killing healthy, adoptable animals?”
We aren’t. We are a group of volunteers who advocate for the dogs and cats at NYC ACC. Please direct your question to them.
“Where are the rescues?”
Rescues are people like you. The vast majority of them don’t have facilities where they can hold dogs and cats indefinitely, they don’t have unlimited financial resources, they don’t have foster homes just waiting around lazily for an animal to take in. What they do have is huge boarding and vet bills, and animals coming out of their ears. The vast majority of rescues are unable to pull a dog or cat unless they have a (local) adopter or foster for him/her. Without one, they have nowhere to put the animals, literally.
“Why are you not sending dogs and cats to the other side of the country?”
We are not sending them anywhere because we are neither the NYC ACC, nor a New Hope rescue.
Like any responsible rescue, New Hope rescues don’t act like they’re the doggie/kittie version of amazon.com. They require home visits and for foster/adopters to be close enough so that the rescues can serve as a true safety net for their animals. Dog and cat overpopulation is a national problem, not a New York problem – thankfully, Urgent has grown big enough where the NYC ACC dogs and cats get a lot of exposure, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a pound or shelter in your own backyard, full of animals waiting and hoping for homes.
“Can I adopt this dog/cat if I live on the other side of the country?”
If a dog or a cat is available for public adoption, you certainly can! People have come and adopted animals available to the public that they had seen on Urgent, from as far as Florida or Canada. You simply need to come to New York and adopt in person. Again, this isn’tamazon.com for animals. A pet is a huge commitment that should last for the remainder of his/her life, so it might very well be worth the road trip.
If he/she isn’t, please check out your nearest pound or shelter to meet your new best friend.
“Update?”
Leaving a gazillion comments like this, will not get an update any quicker, and neither will such PM’s sent to the page. We are still not the NYC ACC, and updates on Urgent don’t happen in real time. We update each animal’s status as soon as we are humanly able to.
“Is this dog/cat safe?”, “Has this dog/cat been pulled?”, and variations thereof.
If he/she is in the Safe folder, and has “SAFE ” in the very first line of his/her thread caption, then he/she is safe.
Animals in the Super Urgent, Manhattan, Brooklyn/Staten Island folders need help. Animals in the Gone But Never Forgotten folders have, unfortunately, not made it out.
“Can we get a new photo of this dog/cat?”
If we had a new photo, said photo would have already been posted. The handful of amazing volunteers who have their hearts broken day in and day out, spend as much time with these animals as they physically can, and take beautiful volunteer photos of them.
NYC ACC is always looking for new volunteers, so please don’t hesitate to sign up:http://nycacc.org/Volunteer.htm
“Why don’t they shave this dog?”, “Why is he/she being choked with that rope?”, and variations thereof.
Intake photos are named so because they’re taken upon intake. For the few seconds it takes for staff to snap an intake picture, they tether the dog with a slip lead to try and keep him/her as still as possible. Then the dog is moved into a kennel. They aren’t kept on “ropes” a few inches long.
Dogs who are severely matted, typically do receive a medical shave when the medical staff can get to them.
“Is there a phone number I can call for an update?”
No, there isn’t.
“Is there a phone number I can call to put a hold on this dog/cat?”
No, there isn’t. Members of the public cannot put holds on NYC ACC animals, only New Hope rescues can.
“How much is needed to save this dog/cat?”
What’s needed, in the vast majority of cases, is something priceless: a (local) foster or adopter. Animals are pulled with no pledges every day because a rescue has fosters or adopters for those particular animals, and animals with huge pledges get killed because rescues do not have fosters or adopters for those particular dogs or cats. Each and every rescue needs donations once they save an animal, but money cannot buy a pull.
“Is this dog good with cats/children/bunnies/big dogs/small dogs/etc.?”
All the information we have on each dog and cat, at any given minute, is on the thread. Asking for additional information won’t get that additional information simply because we don’t have said information; if we did, it would already be on the thread. Please note that NYC ACC doesn’t test dogs with cats, children, bunnies, etc. When they conduct a SAFER (detailed behavior evaluation,) they test a dog with an available dog-friendly other dog, of the similar size and age. Therefore, they won’t test a Pit with a Chihuahua, or vice versa, either.
“Who pulled this dog/cat?”
If it is not on the thread, then we don’t know. The NYC ACC doesn’t give out that information, so we rely on the New Hope rescues that participate on Urgent, to post and/or let us know that they pulled an animal. If a rescue doesn’t – or they are not on Facebook, – we will not know.
“Can you post the euth list earlier, so that we have enough time to network the dogs/cats?”
No, we can’t, simply because the NYC ACC releases the euth list every day at 6:00 PM – not sooner, not later. In other words, the day’s euth list does not EXIST before 6:00 PM. We add the incoming dogs and cats as soon after intake as we possibly can, and they’re all waiting around for someone to network them in the Super Urgent, Manhattan, and Brooklyn/Staten Island folders.
“Why is the intake date the same as the due-out date? Do they kill animals right away?”
The intake date is the same as the due-out date when the animal is an owner surrender and there isn’t any special hold (ie. DOH hold, ID hold, etc.) on the dog or cat. The mandatory holding period for strays is 72 hours; however, if the animal is dumped by the owner, there is no legal reason for which the ACC should hold him/her for a specific time period.
Please note that the due-out date does not mean that unless pulled, an animal WILL be euthanized on that specific date; in fact, that very rarely happens. The due-out date, at NYC ACC, means that the dog or cat is on some sort of HOLD until the due-out date, therefore cannot be pulled or adopted prior to said due-out date. Once that hold is up, though, they CAN be placed on the euth list.
“Why do you use the word ‘destroyed?’ It is so inhumane!”
We say that the dogs and cats on the euth list will be “destroyed” unless pulled, because that is exactly what’s going to happen to them. The NYC ACC euthanizes without tranquilizers, and once the animal is finally dead, his/her body is tossed into a black freezer bag, and later disposed of. Neither the act of euthanizing, nor what follows has absolutely anything humane about it, so all we are doing is calling a spade, a spade.