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