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Dozens of stray dogs are imported into New York City from the south every weekend.
Vans packed to the roof with loaded canines drive into town after hours on the road.
The dogs are then given to foster parents – and ultimately adopted for hundreds of dollars, payable to the charitable rescue organization that organized their transportation.
City dog advocates point out that more favorable weather and a lack of spay / neuter laws in the south mean more strays there. Rescue workers then “pull” the dogs here, away from the killing shelters. Although many end up in loving families, the practice also contributes to the overcrowding of urban shelters, according to ASPCA and other groups.
The boxes with the animals were stacked unevenly with makeshift panels up to the ceiling of a 15-person delivery van.JCRice
Dozens of stray dogs are imported into New York City from the south every weekend.JCRice
On a Saturday morning in late August, The Post watched dozens of dogs being unloaded at the South Street Seaport.
They grew up straight from Georgia under the auspices of Waldo’s Rescue Pen, a Manhattan-based tax-exempt dog rescue service.
The boxes with the animals were stacked unevenly with makeshift panels up to the ceiling of a 15-person delivery van.
That same morning, The Post observed a similar operation in Madison Square Park: dogs were being handed out by a Hearts & Bones Rescue van driven from Texas that returned no messages demanding comment.
Badass Animal Rescue advertises the same model. The Brooklyn-based Rescue offers “cute, loving, adoptable dogs from high-kill pounds in the rural south.” Rescue didn’t return any emails either.
Unofficial data shows thousands of dogs are being imported into NYC shelters. According to Shelter Animals Count, a nonprofit that maintains a national database, 3,274 shelter dogs were brought to New York City last year. That exceeds the 2,304 dogs dropped off by their owners in the city and is just below the number of stray dogs picked up in the five boroughs, 3,297.
There is no official count of how many stray dogs are imported into New York City from the south. New Yorkers must license their dogs with the health department, but applications don’t ask for their place of origin.
Unofficial data shows thousands of dogs are being imported into NYC shelters.JCRice
Dozens of dogs, most pit bull mixes, are listed on rescue workers’ websites.
Local advocates say the influx of dogs from out of town means more dogs need to be euthanized here.
Rescue workers must register with the State Department of Agriculture & Markets – but that’s the scope of state regulation.
“Unfortunately, pet shops are regulated and inspected, but rescue operations are not. There are no laws governing their activities other than registering, ”the state agency recently told local whistleblowers in an email. “There are currently no enforceable state laws against bailouts.”
Spokeswoman Jola Szubielski confirmed that the agency has no “control authority” for rescues, “as is the case with animal dealers”.
Christa Chadwick, ASPCA Director of Animal Shelters said, “Animal homelessness is a complex problem that requires multiple solutions. Challenges in some areas include animals at risk of euthanasia due to oversupply, while in other areas they are at risk of euthanasia due to medical and behavioral challenges that require intensive support and resources to help them find them to help find the right home. “
A representative from the Animal Care Centers of NYC, a taxpayer-funded nonprofit that runs the city’s public animal shelters, said Dixie’s dogs are competing with their Yankee counterparts for adoption.
“A lot of dogs come to NYC from southern shelters because they have a much better chance of being adopted in the northeast. There are also great dogs that need a home here in NYC. And these are the dogs ACC wants to be adopted, ”spokeswoman Katy Hansen told The Post.
