Animal Care Centers of Nyc Staten Island
The Staten Island branch of the city's beleaguered Animal Care Center was forced to evacuate all of its animals, including two pot-bellied pigs, because of dangerous temperature conditions inside, The Post has learned.
ACC's Director of Placement sent out an "SOS" email to rescue partners Sunday afternoon asking for help placing the animals after the evacuation left the agency's Brooklyn and Manhattan locations packed "well beyond our capacity for care," according to the email.
"We recently had to evacuate all of our animals in our Staten Island shelter due to an issue with the temperature in the building fluctuating and it becoming unsafe to continue to house animals until it is resolved," reads the email, which was sent around 1:30 p.m. with the subject line "SOS SI Shelter temporarily Evacuated. We need your help!"
"We have now … found ourselves well beyond our capacity for care in our Brooklyn and Manhattan locations. We have approximately 235 cats and 150 dogs in our care and could really use some help! We also just got word that we are projected to receive another 15+ cat intake."
An ACC spokeswoman wouldn't clarify whether the roughly 385 animals were in the care of the Staten Island branch or systemwide.
The news comes after The Post reported on squalid and neglectful conditions at ACC's Brooklyn location using insight from three whistleblowers, including two former volunteers and a current worker, who came forward because they were concerned for the animals' welfare.
Two of the former volunteers previously told The Post there were temperature-control issues at the Brooklyn location that made holding rooms sweltering and unsafe for animals.
The whistleblowers said neglect issues were always worse when the shelter was at capacity or overcrowded.
In the SOS email, the placement director told rescue partners many of the homeless cats came from "hoarding situations" or "large groups of owner surrenders."
"While most of the cats are healthy, many of them do need some socialization. We also have many senior kitties who are friendly and are looking for a new place to wait out their golden years," the email says.
The dogs who were moved are mostly "large mixed breed dogs" that'd likely fare better outside of the Big Apple, the director wrote, adding they also needed help placing a "small selection of guinea pigs and a pair of rabbits."
"We also have two pot belly pigs!" the email states.
On Monday morning, the branch was in fact closed when visited by The Post and workers refused to explain the temperature issue, directing a reporter to reach the agency's media representative.
The ACC spokeswoman told The Post that the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which oversees the pound, "is working to repair the HVAC system."
"In order to ensure that all animals are safe until the issue can be corrected, ACC has transported the animals to their Brooklyn Care Center," the spokesperson said without saying how many animals were impacted.
Animal advocates regularly criticize ACC on a number of issues, including euthanasias they argue are too frequent and unnecessary.
Judith Lustgarten, a Manhattan-based animal advocate who regularly meets with lawmakers to help guide reform, is concerned Staten Island's evacuees will end up on death row with the Brooklyn and Manhattan pounds at capacity — a frequent reason for euthanasias.
"I think their lives are compromised now," Lustgarten told The Post.
She pointed to the millions of dollars the Big Apple has invested in ACC and their infrastructure and said temperature issues at the facility shouldn't be a problem.
"[The money] was supposed to go to building a proper shelter. Where did that money go?" she questioned.
"It goes back to putting the proper people on the job. If you do it right, you do it right, or you don't do it at all."
ACC is contracted by the city to house any homeless animal across the five boroughs and regularly boasts an adoption rate of around 90 percent.
Between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2018, ACC euthanized seven percent of the 9,558 cats and dogs they took in, according to a recent audit by the comptroller's office.
Additional reporting by Lorena Mongelli
Animal Care Centers of Nyc Staten Island
Source: https://nypost.com/2020/11/09/staten-island-animal-shelter-evacuated-over-unsafe-conditions/
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