Central Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, September 22, 2004

A FREE FIX FOR NEW YORK CITY PETS

On August 21, Brownie and Speedo got lucky—they found homes. Brownie is a seven-month-old Chihuahua puppy, a stray who had found his way into the caring arms of Animal Care & Control. Speedo is a six-month-old domestic shorthair kitten whose former owner was allergic to cats. The day of Brownie’s and Speedo’s adoptions was August 21—National Homeless Animals Day, and Brownie and Speedo were unknowing beneficiaries of a new partnership between Animal Care & Control of New York City (AC&C), the North Shore Animal League of America (NSAL) and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Brownie and Speedo are but two of the nearly 350 cats and dogs that have found loving homes since the partnership began on May 8, 2004.

During the past four months, NSAL’s 35-foot mobile adoption centers have been used to bring animals from AC&C Centers in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island to parks throughout the five boroughs. Spayed and neutered, ready-to-be-adopted, and hungry for homes, aspiring pets arrive in a big air-conditioned van and depart in someone’s loving arms.

"AC&C is thrilled to be partnering with Parks & Recreation to save lives," said Ed Boks, Executive Director of Animal Care & Control. "In just the past four months AC&C adopted nearly 350 pets into loving homes from various park locations throughout New York. I appreciate the role Parks employees play in rescuing lost and homeless pets found in our parks and hope they appreciate the role we all play in finding homes for them. It is truly a win/win partnership for all two- and four-legged New Yorkers!"

"The Urban Park Rangers and Park Enforcement Patrol rescue thousands of dogs and cats from our parks every year," said Sara Hobel, Director of the Urban Park Rangers. "These are pets made homeless, abandoned by their owners, struggling to survive, often giving birth in our parks. We thank Animal Care & Control, who take these pets in and work tirelessly to find them the homes they deserve."

Parks & Recreation and AC&C are already gearing up for another big event. On Sunday, September 26, at the North Meadow Recreation Center in Central Park (mid-park at 97^th Street), beginning at 6 a.m., AC&C and Parks & Recreation are partnering to present an exciting new program in Manhattan, The Big Fix. Designed to end the flood of pets entering New York City shelters, The Big Fix is a grant- and donation-funded program providing low cost or no cost spay/neuter services to the pets of any New York City resident on any form of public assistance. Such operations normally cost upwards of $200. AC&C medical support staff will operate within their spay/neuter vehicles. Pets belonging to eligible New Yorkers will be spayed or neutered for free. A similar event was held on July 18, 2004 at St. Mary’s Recreation Center in the Bronx. The day was a success, with 135 pets spayed or neutered.

To qualify for The Big Fix, New York City residents must demonstrate that they are recipients of some form of public assistance: welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, or the like.

For information on pre-surgery instructions, please call AC&C at 212-676-8564.

"The most important things are the hardest to say,
because words diminish them."

Stephen King
(b. 1947)

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