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Sheltered pets get a $10K reprieve

By James Fanelli | amNewYork Staff Writer

July 14, 2006

Inspired by an amNewYork story published Thursday, the ASPCA has pledged $10,000 to help strays whose lives are at stake -- and it's asking you to help too.

After reading the exclusive story Thursday about how rising gas prices are crippling a program that transports animals from city shelters to foster homes, officials at the ASPCA decided to make the grant to the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals.

"We hate to see rising gas prices usurp efforts to save the lives of adoptable pets," said Edwin Sayres, president and chief executive of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "The Mayor's Alliance program is crucial to saving the lives of cats and dogs that otherwise would never have a chance and in getting us closer to our goal of being a no-kill city."

The ASPCA also called for New Yorkers to match its gift, dollar for dollar, by July 31.

Alliance president Jane Hoffman said her group has already received calls from amNewYork readers who want to make a donation and adopt animals.

With the average price of regular gas in the city at $3.11 a gallon -- up 31% from last July -- the Mayor's Alliance said it might be forced to scale back its program because of budget constraints, leaving more animals to a grim fate at the shelters.

The van service transfers about 160 or more pooches and kitties to foster homes each month. This year, the group, a non-profit that partners with the city-contracted shelter manager Animal Care and Control, budgeted $15,000 for fuel costs. However, the unexpected gas-price hikes have tripled costs to $45,000 for the year.

To cover the difference, the Mayor's Alliance said it has already siphoned funds away from its other animal-care programs, but if fuel costs continue to spiral, it will have to scale back the service.

Hoffman said that the ASPCA's donation will go a long way to lowering the number of adoptable dogs and cats that are put to sleep at shelters. Each year, 52% of the 44,000 stray cats and dogs in the city's shelters are put to sleep.

"I think this grant represents the great collaboration between the Alliance, with the ASPCA being one of its founding members and the Animal Care and Control," Hoffman said. "This grant will allow us to save even more animals' live."

To make a donation, go online to www.aspca.org/alliance or mail donations to the ASPCA, c/o Mayor's Alliance, 424 E. 92nd St., New York, N.Y. 10128.