Ed Sayres’ uncaring has cost another animal his life. The head of an agency that took in $127,871,245 in one year alone, ignored pleas by the city’s pound to save Jerome, a seven month old dog originally adopted from the ASPCA itself and for which it was responsible. When the call went out to save the dog, some rescuers thought it was a joke, given that the dog’s microchip registered to the ASPCA and the ASPCA is the richest humane society in the nation. But it was no joke: the ASPCA refused to pick Jerome up from the pound. And the dog is now dead. To justify the killing, the city pound claimed the dog guarded his food, a condition which should never result in a dog being killed because the prognosis for rehabilitation is always good and the ASPCA has enough resources to make cost, which is negligible to begin with, nonetheless irrelevant.
“Out of sight, out of mind” appears to be the motto defining Sayres’ tenure at the ASPCA, even if it means an animal is needlessly put to death. And the $20,000,000 Alliance for New York City’s Animals did nothing to stop it. An e-mail by the city pound to Alliance founder Jane Hoffman that was sent the day before the dog was killed with a plea to save the dog apparently went unheeded. On April 7, the dog was given a fatal dose of barbiturates. His body then discarded into a dumpster.
The puppy’s death is just one more in a long line of scandals that have rocked both the ASPCA and the Alliance for New York City Animals, despite the claims by Ed Sayres and Jane Hoffman that their combined efforts make New York City a national model of compassionate care. This includes:
- The needless killing of Oreo, despite a rescue alternative;
- The needless killing of Max, despite a rescue alternative;
- New York City’s pound running out of food to feed the animals despite being down the street from the ASPCA, the nation’s wealthiest humane society, and an Alliance that has taken in roughly $20,000,000 to help homeless animals;
- Threatening to kill dogs for being hungry;
- Claiming to have saved all healthy animals, but admissions by the city pound that it does kill them;
- Threatening to kill healthy and treatable animals every single day; and,
- Trying to kill “Oreo’s Law” in order to preserve lucrative positions of power even if it means animals are needlessly killed in shelters throughout the state.
All of this in a city with the richest humane society in the United States, and one of the top 200 wealthiest charities overall. All of this in a city with an Alliance that has taken in roughly $20,000,000 to improve conditions for homeless animals. One agency has taken in tens of millions, the other takes in hundreds of millions annually, and neither was willing to save the life of a seven month old puppy.
For additional reading:
ASPCA chief’s tenure marked by unconscionable policies
To kill animals in New York, the ASPCA goes after them in California