AC&C Participates in Just One Day

On June 11, AC&C joined animal shelters across the nation participating in the Just One Day event, which encourages shelters to suspend euthanasia on that day. Adoption hours were extended until 8pm, adoption fees were reduced, and there was no at-risk list the evening of June 10 and no euthanasia on June 11, unless deemed medically necessary for humane reasons. All three AC&C Care Centers participated, and AC&C’s Mobile Adoption Center brought cats and dogs looking for loving homes to Petco Union Square. Hear about it in this 1010 WINS interview with AC&C Executive Director Risa Weinstock and be sure to check out this segment on PIX11.

Aside from suspending euthanasia for the day, the goal of our taking part was to increase awareness of the wonderful animals waiting for homes in our shelters every day. In all, 28 animals were adopted on June 11, including one rabbit! This represents a 133% increase over a typical Wednesday.

These results demonstrate the power of a community effort to reduce homelessness of our companion animals. While we are encouraged by the number of extra adoptions from Just One Day, we are still faced with the reality of daily intake numbers that continue to outweigh placement. On June 11, we took in 78 cats and 17 dogs.

AC&C is one of the largest open-admissions shelters in the country, taking in approximately 30,000 animals each year. This translates to almost 80 animals each day entering the shelter. April through September -- “kitten season” -- are particularly busy months as thousands of kittens and cats are brought to AC&C. Last summer alone, AC&C took in nearly 6,000 cats, enough to fill every seat in Radio City Music Hall.  

“Finding the right home for thousands of animals takes coordinated efforts at every level,” said MeLissa Webber, Director of Operations at AC&C. “From our adoptions department to our New Hope partnership we are committed to innovative and exciting programs to help increase placement of our companion animals.”  

We encourage ongoing participation from the community in the form of adopting, fostering, donating or volunteering. Only then can we strike a balance between animals leaving our shelter and animals coming into our shelter.

Thank you to everyone who came together on June 11 and adopted, donated or signed up to take part in our foster/volunteer program. Together we can build a city filled with New York’s Kindest, and Just One Day will be every day.