THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE

obscene amounts of money used in an excessive and morally questionable way

I’ve been involved with the animal rights movement for decades - and I never recall the City of NY taking the homeless/stray overpopulation of cats and dogs seriously — whether homeless animals on the street or those dumped at the shelter. There has never been an initiative to spay and neuter these animals. The Council and Mayor have all looked the other way, expecting private not-for-profits to do the City’s work. So homeless animals continue to breed on the street, starve, get abused, and die. Or they are euthanized in the shelter because there are too many and not enough good homes.

Animal control is a government responsibility – although it must be done humanely and with common sense. It falls on deaf ears. The NYC Council seems to think that by giving a 34-year City contract worth $1.86 billion to the NYC ACC – the organization will heal itself in decades. They won’t have to think about it anymore.

This is from a NY Daily News op-ed I wrote that was published on February 26, 2024.

“Animal control” is a government responsibility and the ACC is mostly funded by our tax dollars. Even though the ACC is the NYC pound, they are not forthcoming with information — there is no transparency — no public oversight.”

Here it is ten months later, and nothing has been done. Don’t kid yourselves, the Council Health Committee hearing held on September 13^th only focused on TNR rescuers. Although it originally was supposed to focus on oversight of the NYC Animal Care Center (ACC) It barely touched on the shelter, non-TNR cat rescuers, or dog rescuers. TNR is very important but it is only a portion of the much larger issue.

This is an excerpt from my first Substack published October 27, 2024 - The Tragedy of Cat and Dog Overpopulation in New York City .... in the wealthiest city in the world!

– “The one crisis that is continually ignored in NYC is the overpopulation of cats and dogs, which is slowly evolving into something so serious that it is competing with underdeveloped countries that ignore their homeless animal population.

Animal rescuers strapped for funds who do the life-saving work, which is the government’s responsibility, are mostly ignored by the City. The city pound – Animal Care Center (ACC) – is packed to the rafters with animal drop-offs and ends up euthanizing thousands of animals.

Yet the dichotomy here is that at least half the households in NYC have loving and indulged pets whose caregivers spend more on special food, treats, and toys than any place else. It’s a classic Tale of Two Cities – the haves and the have-nots – in the wealthiest city in the world. “

But the point of this article is about MONEY – the vast obscene sums that are excessive and inappropriate and used for morally offensive things – when there are so many very needy humane causes for both animals and people that are not funded. Very high corporate CEO salaries and bonuses are one thing, which many of us object to; so is excessive, over-the-top spending by celebrities – but what I address here is more than that and beyond the pale.

As if to taunt me for caring so much about this issue and trying to get the powers that be to do something about it - to care - This recently happened.

Banana sold for $6,200,000 by Sotheby’s in NYC.

This past November, Chinese cryptocurrency businessman Justin Sun, purchased a $6.2 million art piece consisting solely of a banana duct taped to a wall. A few days later, he ate the banana and bragged about it on social media.

I will restate. A banana that cost 25 cents sold for $6,200,000 in NYC.

The fruit vendor who sold the banana for 25 cents is a 74-year-old Bangladeshi employee making $12 an hour.

From the article: “A banana artwork composed of a fresh banana stuck to a wall with duct tape is seen before being eaten by Chinese-born crypto founder Justin Sun on November 29, 2024, after buying the provocative work of conceptual art at a New York auction for $6.2 million.”

That $6.2 million banana is a perfect symbol for our bloated economy

This is what the NY Post had to say in an opinion piece.

The World Food Program published this response. “With $6.2 million, the United Nations World Food Programme could have made any number of real impacts. For example:

• Deliver more than 12 million meals around the world

• Provide 25 million school meals to children

• Feed every food-insecure Syrian refugee forced to flee their country

• Deliver 82K food boxes to families in crisis “

Boxer shorts for $1M

Another offensive story about the excesses of money concerned Jake Paul, a boxer who fought Mike Tyson on November 16, 2024. Paul wore a pair of silver shorts covered in 380 carats of diamonds - and along with diamond tennis chains, shoes, and a jewel-encrusted jacket, it was valued at $1,000,000.

Zillionaires have money to burn

Zillionaires Jeff Bezos/Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg/Meta, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are each donating $1,000,000 to the Trump inaugural fund.

NYC Needs low-cost/free spay/neuter services for its cats and dogs

The Toby Project

The Toby Project offers a mobile spay/neuter clinic in NYC and surrounding areas. It has depended on donations and grants from the NYC Dept. of Health - Animal Population Control Fund. It was started by Andrew Kaplan, DVM. They charge $150 for spay/neuter surgery.

From the Toby website:

We are the only organization in NYC whose sole mission is to reduce growth of shelter populations by preventing the births of unwanted dogs and cats. We will make NYC a true "no-kill" community by directing spay and neuter at the very animals who would otherwise perpetuate a vicious cycle of unwanted birth and unnecessary death.

Because of a glitch in the system, the Toby Project will not be eligible for funding from the Dept of Health/Animal Population Control Fund until 2027.

City council – are you listening?

In summary – this is what the above vulgarities could have bought

Artwork at $6.2M – 41,334 spay/neuter surgeries

Boxer - $1M - 6,667 spay/neuter surgeries

Trump inaugural fund -- $3M – 20,001 spay/neuter surgeries

That is a total of 68,002 spay/neuter surgeries in NYC — I know it is a fantasy, but that kind of funding could have done a lot of good.

POSTSCRIPT: In the words of Senator Elizabeth Warren - “We don’t win what we don’t fight for.” Please take her words to heart. Join the fight for our innocent and helpless cats and dogs. Liking posts, emojis, and sadness do not work. Our Council Members have the power to make positive change. Call them.

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