Devastating News at the City Shelter

[clara4457]

There is a major issue brewing in the city of Buffalo. The Mayor's new budget just came out and it calls for cutting the staff at the shelter from 17 to 12 and eliminating all adoptions. That would make the shelter an animal control facility only and would basically cause all dogs and cats not claimed within the 5 day stray hold to be euthanized automatically. The local SPCA does not have the facilities to take all the adoptable dogs and cats to their facility. He has put a deadline of July 1st for the cuts.

We have a community meeting to discuss the issues tomorrow night and we will be attending the city budget meeting on Friday. Although the city does not do the best job in the world when it comes to adoptions and animal welfare the alternative is horrifying.

Please everyone - pray that we succeed in our fight to either keep adoptions at the shelter, or find an alternative that will keep the adoption program going. The problem with the SPCA is that they routinely euthanize Pit Bulls, German Shepard and Rottweillers because they are so difficult to adopt out. I am just in tears over these recent developments and we are all fighting hard to keep it going.

[ramanth]

Prayers for you and the animals.

[clara4457]

We had a meeting about the recent planned cuts last night. It was an amazing experience. Over 100 people attended and all three local news channels were in attendance. Here are some of the fine points.


Three committees were formed. One to organize and plan a protest against the planned cuts. We are hoping to get something going this Friday at lunch time in front of city hall. The budget hearings are this Friday starting at 1:30pm.

Another committee was formed to explore the legal ramifications of eliminating adoptions at the shelter. A lawyer was present that informed us that the city is in violation of the city charter which expressly reads that the City must have an adoption program. His plan is if the budget is passed and the adoption program is shut down, to slap the city with a restraining order.

The third committee was formed to explore fundraising ideas to help the shelter. The director of the Buffalo Shelter and the director of the SPCA want to get permission for volunteers to go out and make a concerted effort to increase licensing of dogs within the city. Currently there are approximately 70,000 dogs within the city limits and only 10,000 of them are licensed. Of the licensing fees $2.50 go to the state and $10.00 stays within the city. Those fees by law are to be used solely for funding animal programs.

A couple of interesting points from the meeting. The Mayors budget calls for a cut of 5 positions at the shelter. The current staff is 17 and he wants to cut the staff to 12. He would eliminate the Director position, the Administrative assistant, the vet tech position and two Kennel Attendent positions. Currently the vet tech position and one of the attendent positions are vacant and were already part of the hiring freeze last summer. His budget calls for a $200,000 savings by doing away with these positions, but does not show a decrease in the revenue of the shelter. Which would happen if there were no adoptions and adoption fees generated at the shelter.

The operating budget of the shelter is $20,000 a year. $13,000 is used yearly for vermin control and only $7,000 yearly is used for the care and maintenance of the dogs and cats housed there.

It is amazing how many people really care about this issue. Last night after the meeting, my sister, brother in law and myself went to dinner and to talk about everything that had occurred. While we were there, 10 people came up to us and gave us their name and phone numbers and wanted to be part of the fight.

Everyone wish us luck and I will keep everyone informed as to the outcome. On a high note, due to all the recent publicity almost all the adoptable dogs and cats were adopted this week and now have permenant homes.

Clara

[lute]

i'm keeping you in my prayers! i pray that they make the right choice and keep the shelter the way it is!!! im also glad the publicity was good and a lot of the animals that got adopted!

[Kona & Oreo's mom]

It sounds that after the meeting you have reason to feel optimistic! I hope that the three committees can work out a solution to prevent this tragedy. Best wishes to you and all of your supporters!

[lovemyshiba]

Good luck with everything Clara!!!

I certainly hope something can be done--it sounds like a lot of people are interested in helping out.

Please keep us updated!

[clara4457]

The protest committee had our first meeting last night. I'm not sure how the other meetings went, but I can give you some bullet points on what was decided.

The Common Council has an open forum meeting on Friday. The section that discusses the shelter starts at 1:30. About 10 of us will be attending the meetings and we have prepared a statement to read to the council. We will all be wearing light blue shirts and orange buttons with Paw Prints (shelter colors) to signify our affiliation.

On Thursday May 13th, we are we are planning a massive rally outside of City Hall starting at 11:30. We are in the process of making signs, contacting the media and spreading the word. Rescue organizations from around the region have been contacted and are committing their support.

We have decided to put the emphasis on three points:

1. Financial - the cuts to the shelter staff and the adoption program would actually increase costs to the city. No adoption fees, less licensing fees, and increased stray dog and cat population.

2. Image - the "City of Good Neighbors" will now be known as the "City that Slaughters their Pets".

3. Safety - Cuts in the staff and the adoption program will inevitably increase the danger to the public at large. If the shelter becomes an ALL-KILL facility, the public will no longer feel they can call the city to pick up homeless dogs and cats which would create increased dog bite incidents, more strays causing traffic hazards, and people unwilling to call in incidents of animal abuse. Why call the city on strays when you know it is a death sentence to the animal?

The one thing that is frustrating to me is the news media. Although they have been covering the story, they are failing to touch on the bigger issue. I have watched and read every article about it and no one has mentioned that doing away with the adoption program will result in an "ALL-KILL" situation. Everyone seems to assume that the SPCA will step in and take over the adoptions. That will not happen as there will be no one in the shelter to process the animals and make sure that adoptable ones move into a rescue situation.

I will be going downtown today with petitions to try to get more signatures. We would like to present them to the Common Council at tomorrows meeting.

If anyone wants to read all the detail, here is the link on my website.

http://www.tutzauer.com/shelterhelpers/QA.html

[lizbud]

Clara,

Have you heard of this group, they have a lot of connections
with animal issues around the country.

http://www.spayneuter.net/indy_pets_alive_home.htm


They were organized here in response to a desperate state
of affairs in Indy. Media coverage is very important in getting
people involved & the problems talked about publicly.Our local
newspaper started a series called "destined To die" that really
got almost everybody involved with talking about the care of
our city's animals. People were shocked to learn of everyday
problems faced at the citiy shelters. The link is here,

http://www.indystar.com/special/destinedtodie/

[clara4457]

Thanks Liz,

I will definitely be contacting them - for ideas if nothing else.

I am pasting a copy of the statement read at the Common Council meeting. I came away from the meeting feeling hopeful for the future. I truly believe that the Common Council is going to give us some time to work out some funding. We are looking at doing a major drive to increase the dog licensing within the city. Currently there are approximately 60,000 dogs with in the city limits and only about 10,000 are licensed. If we can increase that to 25,000 - 30,000 we will get the funding we need. The good news is the council seemed to embrace the idea.

Permission by author to post

[Draft document, 5/6/04, 1:51pm]

Statement Planned Before the Buffalo City Council (Friday, May 7, 2004)
— Save Our Shelter —

Tuesday night, reeling from a late-Friday announcement by the Mayor that adoptions will end at the Buffalo Animal Shelter on July 1, citizens packed a church and raised their voices in anger. Today, we wish not to be voices of anger. Today, we wish to be voices of reason.

I stand here today, representing not only myself, but also the many who stand behind me in these chambers. And each of us in attendance here also represents many more who could not be present today. Please know that I speak for a vast number of citizens who are concerned for the future of this great city.

Personally, I have spent long hours reviewing budgets, financial plans, revised financial plans, state laws, the city charter, and the law authorizing creation of the Buffalo Fiscal Authority, also known as the control board. I am not ignorant of the severe financial plight of the city. Nor am I ignorant of financial matters. I am currently a PhD candidate in UB’s school of management. I have handled budgets of multi-million-dollar grants. And I am a reasonable mathematician and an accomplished statistician. So numerical issues are by no means intimidating to me.

I come here today to propose that the Council find a way to take advantage of this great City of Good Neighbors. We ask only that this Council extend the current animal shelter program, including adoptions, for a period of 6 months, so that Buffalo’s many good neighbors have sufficient time to forge a solution to the care and adoption of Buffalo’s abused and homeless animals.

A few points we would like to make:

§ Barbara Carr and others at the Erie County SPCA are working now on a drive to increase dog-licensing compliance here in the city, an effort that will increase revenues, not just this year, but continuing in subsequent years.

§ Numerous volunteers contribute goods, services, and care at the current shelter – care that will necessarily fall to a reduced and under-prepared public works staff to carry out. These volunteers require no salary, no fringe benefits. They only ask for a chance to help.

§ The immediate elimination of three currently-filled animal welfare positions – director, administrative assistant, and kennel attendant – will prevent meeting minimum state and local standards of humane care or assessment of the animals brought into the shelter by animal control officers. The remaining two positions to be eliminated are currently unfilled and the savings already realized.

§ The movement to an ALL-KILL shelter with no safety net in place will cause countless animals to be abandoned on Buffalo’s streets – with the attendant health and safety consequences that will necessarily ensue: potential rabies outbreaks, dog bite cases, strewn garbage and more.

§ The skeleton shelter staff and volunteers who work so hard at an admittedly inadequate city shelter have had some excellent successes over the past year. Numerous animals are moved to non-profit animal welfare and rescue organizations, adoptions are up with adopt-a-thons conducted in the community, people from across the state of New York search the Petfinder adoption website for their new companions, as evidenced by the 80,000-plus hits the shelter has received since only January of this year on its adoptable pets postings.

§ Finally, the Mayor’s budget has myopically failed to consider the revenue side of this decision. Adoption activities are revenue-generating. Adopters pay not only for the adoption, but also for vaccinations, spaying/neutering, and (in the case of dogs) a license that generates a continuing revenue stream for the city. A careful examination of the Mayor’s revenue projections fails to correct for the loss of these revenues. It further fails to account for anticipated increases in both direct and indirect costs of an ALL-KILL policy. And, although the Mayor speaks of shifting responsibility to a county-wide level, the revenues gained from licensing and adoptions will also shift.

We ask only for a small amount of time – for ourselves and for the animals. In return, this City of Good Neighbors will mobilize to increase licensing, to contribute monetarily and otherwise to the shelter, and to work for a truly regional solution that maintains the quality of life for all creatures of this great city.

Thank-you,

On behalf of numerous concerned citizens in this City of Good Neighbors

[Fallon]

I hope and pray that the right decision is made and they do not take away adoptions. Why are they taking money away from an animal shelter. that just isn't fair.. why can't they choose something else to pick on.. just not the animals.

[clara4457]

A Rally is planned for the Save our Shelter Campaign this Thursday May 13th from 11:30am - 1:30pm in Niagara Square in front of City Hall. The protest committee asks that everyone that can attend please do so.

A few things we would ask everyone who is attending.

Please keep any signs and placard on a professional level. Pictures of your rescued pets with sayings such as "I found my best friend at the Buffalo Animal Shelter" or "Adoptions are revenue generating --- DUH!!!" or "SOS Save Our Shelter" are examples.

We encourage people to bring their pets, but please make sure that the animals you bring are totally socialized and comfortable in large groups and with other animals. Incidents of aggression will be detrimental to the message.

Keep the rally professional. No vulgarities or slurs. We must combat this on the level the city council will understand. Traditionally the Common Council has been very supportive of the shelter and the welfare of the animals housed there. 24 hours before the budget was announced, the common council members were putting a plan together that would benefit the animal population in the form of a low cost spay/neuter program, a push for increased licensing, plans to find ways to build a better facility using grants and non profit organizations, etc.

In order to stop the proposed cuts, we need to attack the three major areas: Financial issues, Public Safety issues and the image of the city.

I hope anyone that resides in Buffalo or surrounding areas will make plans to be there to protest the cuts to the adoption program and thus save the homeless animals in that area.

Clara

[clara4457]

The rally went well. Over 100 people were there and all three local television stations covered it.

Just from the buzz around town, it looks like the Common Council will be giving us another year to work towards a permanant solution. More than likely the SPCA will be working with us to regionalize the adoption programs in the county. We are going to be fighting to keep a shelter in the city limits, and working hard to make it happen through fundraising and corporate sponsers. My understanding is that the SPCA is the only 501C nonprofit animal welfare organization allowed in the county, so another non profit cannot take over for the city. Which is fine, since the SPCA does a wonderful job and they already have the structure in place.

We are planning a "Gimme Shelter" animal fair on either June 5th or 6th with some local performers and we will have informational booths on spaying/neutering, animal behavior and training, no or low cost rabies vaccinations, and information on the licensing drive that will take place June 25th-June 27th. We decided it was best if we stay upbeat and convince the city that we are willing to work hard to make animal welfare a priority in the city.

If anyone is interested in the video clips of the newscasts, you can find them here:

http://www.tutzauer.com/shelterhelpers/BudgetVideo.html

[lizbud]

Clara,

Thanks for the update & the news clips. I viewed some of them
and really got a feel for the amount of concern showed by all
animal loving folks. I really liked the "Love A Bull" presentaion
program also. Best of luck to the people in Buffalo.

[clara4457]

The Common Council has voted on a new budget that will keep adoptions at the animal shelter for at least another year. The budget still needs to be voted on by the control board, but the immediate future is looking brighter.

You can read about the details here:

http://www.wgrz.com/news/news_articl...?storyid=20891

During this initiative, we collected over 5,000 signatures about the closing of the shelter, generated more media exposure than any other issue before the council, and were instrumental in increasing awareness of animal welfare issues within the area. I am very proud of the work done by the people in the City of Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs for these animals.

It only gives us a year, but hopefully at that time we can work on bringing an alternative to the city for their animals. We are going to continue to fight to bring a state of the art facility into the city through grants, corporate sponsership and general fundraising.

[PayItForward]

I just wanted to say how impressed I am with the effort your group has made and what a great result.

A year reprieve for the shelter adoption program. I really hope everything goes smoothly with extending licensing etc.

Good Luck and Well done