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Dec 10, 2007 10:55 pm US/Eastern
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NYC Boosts Efforts To Become 'No-Kill' City
Number Of Euthanized Pets Falls 30 Percent Over 5 Years
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
There's a new kind of pet store in town -- one where you can adopt an animal from the city's shelter system. It's an innovative effort to get pets out of shelters and into loving homes.
In this new approach to pet adoption, animals are taken out of city shelters and brought to stores around the city, such as SoHo's Animal Haven, a high-end pet store run by an animal rescue group. The atmosphere is intended to be less intimidating and overwhelming than that of the shelter.
"The importance of a place like this is to get people to realize that shelter animals are just being seen in the wrong circumstances sometimes, that they are just as wonderful and as great members of the family as you would find in a pet store," said Jane Hoffman of the Mayor's Alliance for Animals
The change appears to be working.
"People are coming in, they're super excited," said Jennifer Bristol of the Animal Haven. "We've adopted out a number of cats locally in a two block radius."
What's going on at Animal Haven is part of a bigger effort: a 10-year campaign to make New York a "no-kill city," one that doesn't euthanize animals simply because there are no available homes.
Since the campaign started in 2002, the number of animals euthanized in city shelters has plummeted more than 30 percent.
"We've done a lot better. We've saved 20,000 more but we have another 10- or 15,000 that we need to save," Hoffman said.
Hoffman says making New York a no-kill city is an achievable goal, one she says would speak volumes.
"We're a better city, we're a more human city, we're a kinder city if we can take care of the most vulnerable part of our population which is our stray cats and dogs," she said.
Adopting a pet is much less costly than purchasing from a store or breeder, too. It costs only about $120, to adopt a pet from Animal Haven. That includes shots, spaying or neutering, and a microchip to help keep track of your pet.
For more information on the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals,
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