New York has made strides in limited euthanasia, but it’s time to end it altogether, argues Kevan Cleary.
Photo via nydailynews.com
In today’s New York Daily News, the co-chair of the Animal Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association, Kevan Cleary, makes a compelling argument for making the Big Apple a no-kill city:
Yes, the city has made efforts to reduce its euthanasia rate for homeless pets and has had some success — driving it down from almost 24,000 in 2004 to 5,000 this fiscal year, according to the city.
But a visit to the Animal Care & Control website, nycacc.org, shows the daily list of animals to be euthanized the next day. (For some strange reason you have to register with CACC to view the list.)
We need not and must not wait for policy changes to be put in place when it’s convenient for city leaders. Here’s an urgent agenda that those who love dogs should insist gets put into action immediately.
Cleary goes on to offer several more suggestions—a spay/neuter program, more shelters, better vetirinary care for shelter dogs, and public education—that would make New York a much more caring, dog-friendly city. . .especially for those animals in shelters. It’s great to see these kinds of arguments being made in a forum that may be seen by millions of city residents.