New York's Animal Care and Control has come under some scrutiny this year after trying to lockdown its workers from posting photos and information about shelters on the internet. Now, a new report by ABC suggests why they may not want that info leaking out: they talked to two AC&C workers who say that the stray animals are often housed in terrible conditions.
New Report Alleges Terrible Conditions At Animal Shelters
Animal Care Volunteers Told To STFU By Officials
New York's Animal Care & Control is getting some bad PR after instructing volunteers to stop feeding their bad PR machine! According to the Daily News, the city's animal shelter volunteers are being told by officials that they have to stop posting photos and information about shelters on the internet, even on their personal Facebook pages. The agency doesn't want to be put in a "negative light," but it looks like their efforts are having a Streisand effect.
Cat Rescued From Sewer, Now Named Cheese
Yesterday, Animal Care and Control and emergency service workers opened up a sewer in East New York, Brooklyn to free a cat. NY1 reports (which has video) that a nearby store owner "heard the calico making noises" and contacted ACC. He saw the five or six month old cat liberated, "The cat was a mess. It was scared, it was thin. It looked like it hadn't eaten for half a day, a day. It was very scared, dirty. The cat was going crazy. It was just happy to be out, I guess." It's unclear how long the cat was trapped there, but she seems okay, besides being weak from her hunger. ACC workers named her Cheese and "say she will be up for adoption in three days. For more information, call 1-212-788-4000."
Houdini The Raccoon Will Be Released
The raccoon now known as Houdini—after escaping the cage his captors put him in yesterday—may have ended up being caught again, but the good news is he's still alive. The NY Post reports that the animal, who infiltrated City Hall, shows no signs of disease and "is scheduled to be released in a wooded area somewhere in the five boroughs." Phew! Mike Pastore of Animal Care & Control told NY1, "We get an animal like this, we're concerned for the public health aspect of it. We don't want somebody to encounter a raccoon coming across, so I'm glad that we were able to get him out the area." And just look how cute this 25-lb guy is! Guess all raccoons aren't foaming at the mouth.
Supercute Coyote Pup Found in the Bronx
Yesterday, we mentioned that a coyote was spotted near the Horace Mann School in the Bronx. It turns out the coyote was a pup of about 6 months. Animal Care and Control took the little fella to its Manhattan facility and nicknamed the 9-pound coyote "Van Cort," since he was near Van Cortlandt Park. A specialist told the Post, "My guess would be that he was part of a litter. Maybe it was hunting and it got lost." Van Cort will probably be headed to an animal sanctuary upstate; more pictures here.
Cops Capture Getaway Goat in the Bronx
In a desperate bid for freedom and to avoid a date with a butcher's knife, a goat made a break for it in the Bronx. The 25 pound pygmy goat was spotted yesterday afternoon on 141st St. near St. Ann Ave. in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx and police quickly captured it. A worker with Animal Care & Control believes that the animal probably escaped from a neighborhood slaughterhouse.

