View Audit

Unearths evidence of abuse, neglect and accidental euthanasia

Encounters an "overall pattern of uncooperative behavior" at CACC

Links failure to increase adoptions to inadequate public outreach, limited off-site adoptions and discouragement of animal rescue groups

The Center for Animal Care and Control fails to provide humane treatment to all of its animals and allows dogs and cats to be "accidentally and needlessly euthanized," according to an audit released today by New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. The audit of CACC's shelter conditions and adoption efforts found "compelling evidence" of animal mistreatment: animals left in soiled cages or without water, animals needlessly euthanized, contagious animals housed with healthy ones, and examples of poor veterinary care.

The Comptroller also noted the full extent of the problems could not be determined because of CACC's "obstructive tactics" and resistance to share its records with auditors.

"Throughout the audit, CACC imposed obstacles that prevented us from conducting audit tests as we deemed necessary," Thompson said. "CACC prevented us from obtaining a complete and accurate view of its operations and from obtaining all of the information necessary to develop a full set of constructive recommendations to help improve its operations."

CACC management and staff refused or delayed access to many documents (such as personnel files, logbooks and disciplinary action notices) and prohibited employees from being interviewed unless management was present. Additionally, only two of six members of CACC's Board of Directors would speak with the Comptroller's Office.

"We were unable to interview employees, such as kennel attendants, veterinarians, adoption counselors, who could have given us first-person observations," Thompson said.
"We were not able to review any managers' logbooks and notes-to-file at the Manhattan and Staten Island shelters. These are documents that would contain written accounts of incidents that occur at shelters, such as mistreatment of animals, accidental euthanasia, and of employees failing to perform their jobs properly."

The audit, which was performed in accordance with the Comptroller's audit responsibilities set forth in the City Charter, examined conditions under which animals were sheltered at CACC facilities and the level and success of CACC's animal adoption efforts from January 1, 1999 to June 30, 2001. Auditors visited CACC facilities 15 times between February and April 2001, examined available records and walked through the shelters and centers to evaluate conditions.

CACC has provided animal seizure, shelter and care services in New York City since January 1, 1995. During the year 2000, CACC's total budget was $8.3 million, all but $300,000 received from the City's Department of Health. CACC operates three full-service shelters in Manhattan and Brooklyn and on Staten Island, and two receiving centers in the Bronx and Queens. During the year 2000, 60,877 animals - including 55,376 cats and dogs - entered into the CACC shelter system. Of that 60,877, 14,270 (23.4 percent) were adopted, 677 (1.1 percent) were reclaimed by owners, 722 (1.2 percent) were still in the shelters at year's end, and 41,203 (67.7 percent) were euthanized. (Another 4,005 animals were in other categories, such as released to freedom or dead on arrival.)

"CACC does not provide humane conditions for all of the animals in its shelters, and has not made aggressive efforts to increase adoptions of homeless animals," Thompson said. "CACC seems to focus its efforts on pushing animals through the system without providing humane care for all New York City animals in need."

Among the audit's key findings:

· Dogs were rarely, if ever, exercised. Employees did not consistently take them to dog runs at the shelters. One shelter even had a sign saying: "No dogs allowed in the outside runs until further notice."

· In some shelter wards, many animals were not provided with constant access to water, as evidenced by empty bowls in their cages.

· Contagious animals were sometimes kept in the same wards as non-contagious animals. The Staten Island facility did not have a separate ward for contagious animals.

· At CACC's two larger shelters (in Brooklyn and Manhattan), cages were not consistently spot-cleaned, and animals were left in soiled cages.

· Some animals in CACC shelters were accidentally euthanized. Of 42 employees at the Brooklyn shelter for whom we were able to review all relevant sets of documents, four (10 percent) were cited for actions that caused the euthanasia of owned or claimed animals between January 1999 and April 2001. Additionally, the audit found evidence that six more employees at the Brooklyn and Manhattan shelters were cited for such actions.

· The audit also found documentation of 34 instances in which employees made the types of mistakes that could lead to accidental or inappropriate euthanasia of animals.

· Animals were subjected to abuse and neglect. The audit found 13 instances of animal mistreatment. Six incidents took place at the Brooklyn shelter, and seven occurred at the Manhattan shelter between January 1999 and April 2001.

· Animals also were provided with substandard veterinary care. Of the seven veterinary staff members at the Brooklyn shelter for whom auditors reviewed all documents, three (43 percent) were cited for poor veterinary care between January 1999 and April 2001. The audit additionally found evidence of five more veterinary staff members at the Manhattan shelter who were cited for poor veterinary care.

· Most employees who mistreated animals were not dismissed.

The audit suspects that problems of animal mistreatment may be much worse. The Comptroller's Office interviewed former employees, rescuers and customers, who described a "shelter system in which inadequate resources and staffing levels prevent the provision of some of the basic necessities for humane animal care; the frustrations of overworked or unqualified employees are sometimes taken out on the animals; opportunities to help animals and increase adoptions are squandered; and, perhaps most notably, the status quo is perpetuated by a management that is not truly committed to all aspects of the organization's contract and mission."

The audit determined that CACC has not significantly improved its adoption record over the last three years because of a number of factors. A survey by the Comptroller's Office found that the public is largely unaware of CACC and its adoption efforts. Further, CACC does not make aggressive efforts to improve public awareness, restricts off-site adoptions, discourages animal rescue groups from involvement with the shelter system, and limits the number of animals available for adoption.

The Comptroller also is concerned that CACC does not offer adoption services in Queens and the Bronx, and that CACC compounds a problem of under-funding by failing to aggressively raise money on its own and failing to recruit volunteers.

The audit also concluded that CACC's current contract with the Department of Health does not include specific and measurable performance requirements or standards. CACC currently is renegotiating its contract with the DOH to begin July 2002 and, in response to the Comptroller's Audit, the DOH reported that it would include specific performance measures to better monitor CACC's compliance, as well as increase its frequency of site visits to the shelters.

The DOH also agreed with the audit's adoption-related findings and said, in its response, that: "CACC has not been as successful as hoped in the area of increasing adoptions." The DOH also said that it "found deficiencies in CACC's … customer service, volunteer program and education and outreach efforts." However, the DOH also said it "disagrees with the audit's main finding: that animals are not sheltered under humane conditions and often receive poor veterinary care."

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