September 20, 2009

The ASPCA has had to add additional low-cost spay/neuter mobile clinics to its roster this year, in order to address an increased demand from pet owners in need (ZT Pet News Photo Courtesy of the ASPCA)

NEW YORK -- In response to an increasing rate of New York pet owners, and animals, in need of financial, supply and veterinary assistance, the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC Animals, a nonprofit organization that works closely with the city, has established a directory on their Web site of organizations able and willing to provide help.

A clear, compiled online listing of low-cost spay/neuter, microchipping and veterinary services, free and low-cost pet food, litter and supplies, as well as affordable, temporary pet boarding and foster care is designed to meet what the Mayor's Alliance identifies as a growing need for pet aid in the metropolitan region.

"We have always attempted to identify resources on our site for the public that we think they might find helpful," explained Steve Gruber, communications director for the Mayor’s Alliance. "We identified the kind of things that we are getting a lot of calls for -- people trying to access affordable food for their pets is a big one, and cheap vet care, as well.

"The need has certainly grown, and it has become an issue of people feeling like they have few options, except to turn their animals in at the shelter. Our goal is to prevent that."

Potentially exorbitant veterinary bills are a source of concern for many pet owners, said Gruber, noting that the seemingly basic cost of kibble, or litter, in some cases serves as a tipping point, as well.

"They say the economy is starting to get better but there are still these deal breakers out there," he said. "The need has always been so great in this area and it has continued to intensify over the past few months."

The ASPCA Mobile Clinic and Outreach program, one of the listed services online, has increased its services by more than 25 percent over the last year, according to Aimee Hartman, senior director of the initiative. Last year, the mobile clinics, which service all five boroughs throughout the week, performed 23,000 spay and neuter surgeries; this year, they have already fixed 38,000 animals.

For pet owners who receive public assistance, the services are free; for others, the medical procedure costs $75, a fraction of what a typical private veterinary service would charge.

"We're getting over 1,000 calls a month, which is huge, compared to how we used to get less than half of that level of interest last year," Hartman told Zootoo Pet News. "The need is kind of off the charts."

The 12 veterinary surgeons the ASPCA enlists are able to perform 20 to 25 surgeries a day, but the fast rate is not enough to keep up with the demand of pet owners, who often line up as early as 7 a.m. to get their animals treated at one of the clinic’s rotating 32 locations, Hartman noted. People are able to access the ASPCA mobile clinic’s schedule and locations on their Web site, ASPCA.org/aspca-nyc/mobileclinic/.

Long lines are often the norm at the Companion Animal Network’s mobile van, which offers full-scale veterinary services -- everything from nail clippings and vaccinations to X-rays and dental work -- at a fraction of market prices.

Garo Alexanian opened the Queens-based mobile clinic at the end of July, after "it became apparent that there was a need that was not being met, that we were missing a lot of targeted clients we wanted to help because they did not have vehicles, and were not able to take their larger dogs, for instance, to veterinarians near them."

Alexanian founded a pet surrender prevention program, executed in a hotline service, through the city’s Animal Care and Control network several years ago. Bringing help to pet owners directly, though, was key, he realized, in preventing abandonment and relinquishments to city shelters. His van now is parked outside animal care and control centers in Brooklyn and Manhattan two days a week -- recently, he decided to expand services to three days a week, in order to meet a growing demand.

"People sit outside for five to six hours, just waiting with their animals," Alexanian explained. "We worked one day from 11 a.m. to 12 midnight, and we saw around 25 people and their pets, but we still had to turn an additional 20 away. It became clear that we needed a second day of services in Manhattan on a weekly basis."

Alexanian and his team work on a largely volunteer basis, but the animal welfare activist says that the long hours are worth it, given their ability to prevent needless surrenders. Often, pet owners on their way to drop their animals off at the city shelter see the van, receive medical treatment -- either pressing or simply cosmetic -- for their pets, and change their minds.

"If we are able to make a difference in that sense, and affect people in terms of causing them to reconsider surrendering their pets, either in the immediate sense or in the more long term, we feel we are making a substantial difference," Alexanian said.

It’s challenging to track and analyze the impact assistance services might have on decreasing abandonment rates throughout the city -- Animal Care and Control reported 4,062 intakes of dogs and cats in July 2009, a rise from the 2,537 animals they admitted into their shelters in January 2009. Yet the intake rate in July 2005 -- 4,215 animals, in total -- was comparable to this year’s, perhaps more a reflection of animal’s seasonal birthing patterns.

Adoption rates, meanwhile, appear to have kept in tandem with intake rates: 25,542 homeless animals found forever homes from 2008-2009, a dramatic rise from the 17,260 pets who were adopted from 2004-2005.

Yet on an individualized, personal level, the impact these programs have on pet owners in need is clear, according to Susan Kaufman, director and founder of the Animal Relief Fund. ARF collects and distributes free pet food through human food pantries in the city and larger metropolitan area, servicing hundreds of families.

In Long Island alone, ARF’s donations appear in 46 human food pantries once every few weeks.

"There has always been this need in the city, but I think it took the recession to make people fully recognize that," Kaufman said. "A lot of these people can be elderly -- we are really talking about companion animals here, not just pets, but scenarios with older people and the disabled who truly need these animals.

"A lot of things don’t get covered by food stamps, things like diapers and pet food, in this case, which families still need, desperately, but in the end, ultimately can’t afford."

Kaufman and Alexanian say they have both witnessed people regularly travel long distances to reach their services and provide for their animals.

Kaufman noted that there has been a real need for compiled, accessible list of available programs like the one the Mayor’s Alliance has established, and that she expects the directory to make a substantial difference for pet owners across the region.

"The beauty of the Mayor's Alliance is that they are brining together so many different organizations that all have the same goal of wanting to help pet owners and animals across the city,” she said. “This is a tremendous amenity and I think it is just so great that people’s needs are being recognized, and that they are now more able to be met."

To learn more about the Mayor’s Alliance and its affiliated programs, visit AnimalAllianceNYC.org.

Amy Lieberman is a Zootoo Pet News correspondent covering the New York area, and can be reached at alieberman@zootoo.com.