NYC Gives Cats Away for Free

July 26, 2009 | By Amy Lieberman

To help stimulate the economy of pet ownership, New York City's Animal Care and Control is waiving adoption fees for those seeking pet cats. (ZT Pet News Photo by Richard Gentles)

NEW YORK -- It’s a deal even the stingiest of New Yorkers couldn't refuse: a free cat, which arrives home already vaccinated, spayed or neutered and micro-chipped. A complimentary visit to the veterinarian -- and a small goody-bag -- is also included in the deal.

New York City’s Animal Care and Control started waiving adoption fees for cats over the age of one year about two weeks ago, and will continue to do so through Labor Day, in hopes of finding permanent homes for New York City’s thousands of homeless cats, even amid a troubled economy.

“Other rescue organizations in the country have done this kind of program with some success, as well, and we figured that it would be a great way to raise awareness, to let people know that we do have more cats than homes right now,” explained Richard Gentles, spokesperson for AC&C.

“When you say something is free, it kind of gets people’s attention. That’s what we are trying to do.”

The city continues to keep pace with its abundant number of intakes, even as its euthanasia rates have dramatically decreased over the years, and adoptions continue to steadily incline.

From July 2008 to June 2009, approximately 27,970 cats and kittens entered one of the AC&C’s city shelters, compared to the 25,584 felines it accounted for from July 2004 to June 2005.

AC&C successfully adopted out 16,648 cats this year, marking a sharp increase from the 10,364 cats that found homes from 2004 to 2005, and the 14,421 cats that left the shelter for good last year.

Only 9,805 city cats were put down this past year, a vast improvement from the 13,882 cats euthanized from 2004 to 2005.

Yet the city continues to feel the dwindling economy’s crunch, according to Gentles, even despite the relatively meager $25 adoption fee per cat.

“We have always been challenged by just the sheer number of cats that come into our shelters every year,” Gentles said.

He noted that since the city enacted this new program, adoptions have increased -- a trend he expects to continue through the rest of the summer.

“We have had success and I think that this will continue to play out in an even bigger way,” Gentles said. “But we have already seen adoptions pick up. We have a long way to go, since we are running this program through the entire summer. We hope that this will help make a difference.”

New York City’s ASPCA adoption center has traditionally waived fees for cats over the age of three; other major regional shelters, like the Wisconsin Humane Society, in Milwaukee, Wisc., the Kansas Humane Society in Wichita, Kan., the Charleston Animal Society, in Charleston, S.C., and the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, in Westbrook, Me., also continue to offer special promotional deals geared toward cats.

The Pennsylvania Society for the Protection of Animals is among this roster of shelters banking on a recession special, according to Ray Little, director of adoptions.

When adoptive pet parents select one shelter cat, Little says, they receive another free of charge, as a part of the PSPCA’s “Buddy System.”

“We’re not rally calling it a free adoption, but we are encouraging people who are thinking about adoption to consider the benefits of getting their pet a companion,” Little said. “Especially with kittens, they are far less destructive when they have someone there with them all the time to play with -- it’s much better than them trying to scratch up your furniture.”

The PSPCA started the program in June. Since then, Little says, approximately 60 percent of adoptive parents have taken home two cats for the price of one: $75 for a kitten under the age of six months, and $50 for a full-grown cat.

The PSPCA has sponsored comparable programs in the past, but temporarily halted them in face of public criticism from other animal shelters, which were “afraid kittens were being used as bait,” Little said.

This year, however, no other animal shelters or rescue groups have spoken out against the program, perhaps because “everyone knows how difficult it is out there, and how important it is to find these animals homes,” Little said.

“We don’t think that this in any way decreases the quality of our adoptions. We continue to scrutinize all prospective owners in order to ensure that a proper match is being made.”

The Humane Society of New York City, on the other hand, is one such organization that remains opposed to waiving adoption fees, according to Sandra DeFeo, the organization’s co-executive director of public relations.

“We have a pretty steady flow of adoptions, but we have a very strict adoption process and we don’t just hand animals out,” DeFeo said. “People have to be thoroughly vetted and we think it’s important that people step up to pay something, to make a donation. Otherwise, how will we be able to ensure that this animal matters enough to people that they will continue to – and have the resources to -- pay for all of its needs?”

The Humane Society, a private, no-kill shelter, is continuously at its maximum capacity of around 200 animals, DeFeo said. The summer months have been expectedly busy, she noted, but that factor is not likely to affect the nonprofit’s policy.

“There has to be the right home. There are a lot more animals out there now being turned in by their families who can’t afford to keep them, but we are also confident that people who meet our standards will continue to materialize.”

For more about adopting an animal through AC&C, visit nyacc.org.

Amy Lieberman is a correspondent for ZT Pet News covering the New York region and can be reached at alieberman@zootoo.com.