This cat came into New York City Animal Care and Control nursing a litter of kittens. NYC ACC has now placed her on the kill list due to “severe medical conditions”. I read through all the exam notes to see what these major medical problems were. I was expecting to find something like multiple broken bones or end stage cancer or maybe panleukopenia. The one thing I wasn’t prepared for: “mild dental tartar”.
NYC ACC has classified this 2 year old cat as having severe medical conditions (5C rating) due to normal build-up on her teeth. I haven’t had my teeth cleaned in awhile myself. I guess someone should put me out of my misery.
John Sibley has written about NYC ACC’s false classification of healthy pets as sick and the reason it’s done:
[S]tarting in 2009, all partner orgs [in the multi-million dollar grant from Maddie’s Fund] including ACC were required to save every healthy animal in their care. For the already No Kill partners – well, no problem. That’s what they do anyway. For the ACC, mired in a kill mentality, this presented a problem – it was a target that they didn’t think they could hit. Fortunately, they hit upon a quick and easy solution: lie about the health conditions of the animals in their care and classify healthy animals as sick. That way they could kill them and still get their grant.
Maddie’s Fund, is this practice of falsely classifying healthy pets as seriously ill in order to kill them ok with you? Because you are enabling this with your money and your public claims that NYC ACC doesn’t kill healthy pets. You pretend not to know the truth but the pets at the pound don’t need another animal welfare group sweeping the killing under the rug. They need you to tell the truth. Will you take a stand for the pets being needlessly killed in NYC pounds?
I’ve challenged Maddie’s directly on this. They’re happy to look the other way. Their reply is in the comments…
http://johnsibley.com/2012/03/12/maddies-fund-looks-the-other-way-at-nycs-veil-of-secrecy/
I live in England, we have the greatest rescue centres ever, they NEVER, i repeat NEVER put animals down(kill them). Some cats have feline aids and they are allowed to live out their lives, albeit in quarantine, but they are not KILLED. American rescue centres are trading under false pretences, in my opinion the people running these places are like Nazis, and In my opinion i bet they get a kick out of it.
What about Battersea? They kill quite a few. 3000 rehomed, 2800 killed in 2010 (about 1/3 of intake).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/08_august/02/panorama.shtml
“Last year, 2009, we [the RSPCA] killed 533 healthy dogs. And you’ll notice I used the word kill there, rather than put to sleep or humanely euthanize. There’s been enough euphemism, we really need to tell it how it is and we really need to start doing something to prevent it having to happen in the future.” – Tim Wass of the RSPCA
So they do indeed put animals down (kill them.)
Exactly. And when are they going to be held accountable for all the millions donated via Maddie’s Fund and others? What has that money been used for? Where is the accountability and why is Maddie’s Fund not demanding it? When are the people of New York going to finally stand up and demand change? But then again when Maddie’s Fund makes these donations and doesn’t demand better, what does that say. How can they even look at the nightly kill lists and not be outraged is beyond me.
OK, I am sure she was listed on the euthanasia list due to having a litter of kittens not dental tartar. Let’s get real here.
Yeah, let’s. Everybody knows that giving birth is way more contagious than dental tartar.
Maddie’s Fund has seemed to be fine with the whole thing for some time. Apparently, they’re totally cool with convenience killing.
Maddie’s is ultimately flawed. Millions gone to waste. They gave MCACC an award for customer service. You only have to call to find out what a joke that is.
I commented using one of my unapproved accounts, please forgive me for the duplication.
I’ve taken Maddie’s to task rather directly on this one and discovered that they don’t care. Their reply is in the comments:
http://johnsibley.com/2012/03/12/maddies-fund-looks-the-other-way-at-nycs-veil-of-secrecy/
John, did you send out the registered letter in March? Did you get a return receipt? Did you hear from MF after that?
I did send the registered letter the day that was posted. I got no reply by mail, however, Maddie’s did reply in the post comments.
I am appalled. How a place would WANT TO KILL ANIMALS! Close them. Their unethical. Probably abusive, and we already know dishonest. And this is who people turn in animals to. Pathetic. Our Humane Society just wants to kill. They are terrible. Humane, what a laugh.
This is what I’m talking about with the cats I’ve pulled from the E list. All have been healthy wonderful cats that will live long lives now that they are safe. They go to the ACC healthy but get sick there – usually mild URI that a week of meds will cure. But that’s enough for the ACC to kill them and then justify it.
I’ve written to Maddie’s Fund several times about this needless killing and that they are funding murder. No response.
Maddie’s Fund is flawed in that they allow shelters to do all the assessments themselves. They, who benefit from thinning out their numbers, get to establish who is adoptable and who isn’t.
According to Maddie’s, in following the Asilomar Accords, “feral” is considered “unhealthy and untreatable”. Because “feral” is such a subjective term, any cat who doesn’t rub on their cage doors can be labeled as such. They are untreatable and therefore can be euthanized. And it all falls within Maddie’s parameters. These cats are the easiest to shove through the cracks and destroy…all for the benefit of the numbers.
Until Maddie’s establishes an independent third party to assess that which is treatable and that which is not, Maddie’s will remain a sad farce that began as something so wonderfully hopeful.
New York Animal Rights Alliance protest against the killing at NYC ACC is TODAY – https://www.facebook.com/events/147021878768204/
Maddie’s Fund? Their grants recipients coined the phrase “Maddie’s Math.” How they require you to determine percentages and outcome is mind boggling. Plus, it allows for easy manipulation of the statistical data they require. And what do they do with the data? I dunno, do you? To apply for a grant, you will kill a tree. Providing the quarterly/annual reports they require, down goes a few hundred trees. They ask for the same stats over and over again, but in different format. To keep the grant, be prepared to jump through hopes for their spur of the moment ideas.
I’ve work on a Maddie’s Fund Grant. Unless the grantee is willing to hire a full time person to oversee the grant (these grant recipients did) and meet all of Maddie’s reporting requirements, you will be hard pressed to find the grant is worth all the time and energy required.
This grant is suppose to be about saving animals and spay/neuter projects, right? Not a data rubix cube.
This makes me extremely sick to my stomach! Ask them to call their dentist and see when the last time they had their teeth cleaned.. and if it’s been more than 6 months, let’s put them on the severe illness list and kill them. All of them. “Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened” Kathie
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yup.. just an excuse to murder..
What happened to her kittens? I am tired of shelters killing the moms but fostering/adopting the offspring. The Miami shelter did the same thing but to a young dog-the puppies were fostered but the mom did not go with them! What kind of policy is that?
NYC is equal opportunity, they’ll happily kill the mom and kits. I understand that 2 kits have gone to rescue.
The mom and all five kittens were destroyed by ACC; none were saved. Scroll down the thread in the link below; all six profile pictures are shown as “Gone But Never Forgotten.” There were at least two potential fosters for all of them, but these individuals do not appear to have submitted applications to any rescues. It is not enough in NYC to simply post that one wants to adopt/foster and then rant when nothing happens; the rescues have to receive applications. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=492212660790571&set=a.491896940822143.122526.155925874419253&type=1&ref=nf
Greg – Let’s be clear. It’s not up to the public to figure out how to jump through the NYC ACC hoops in order to stop the killing. The blame rests entirely with the pound, not compassionate people offering to save the lives of pets.
Respectfully disagree, and I’ll try to clarify. The overall blame certainly rests with NYC ACC policies and practices– and establishing a No-Kill system is an ongoing fight. But for today and tomorrow, it’s their game, their rules, especially for euth-list pets.
Compassionate rescues and individuals who do save NYC ACC shelter animals have to follow established pathways to accomplish this. Unfortunately, it does involves jumping through hoops. But the host of the FB listing page spells out what has to be done, and “air traffic controllers” typically provide guidance on the needed steps. In this specific context, offering to save the life of a pet by posting online, but not following the help offered and taking the next steps, is sadly not enough.
Ugh. So disgusting. Any pet can get dental tarter very quickly! My dog had it pretty bad but she wasn’t killed over it. And I agree with the consensus; what exactly is Maddie’s Fund doing to help the pets there if they are being killed over such atrocities?