With strays running amok, closed animal shelter reopens part-time

By Cassandra Moreno
Staff Reporter

When one thinks about quality of life issues, air pollution, dirty streets and panhandlers come to mind. Rarely does anyone think about stray dogs and cats. This is a problem in many communities; Highbridge is one of them.

Walk down Summit and Ogden avenues and one will see three to four mix-bred dogs roaming the streets. While on Woodycrest Avenue cats stick their heads out from under the porch of a house just off 163rd Street. “I don’t like them,” said Highbridge resident Norma Rosa.

“I don’t think it’s safe to have strays roaming loose around children. You never know what they might do.”

The city has suffered many budget cuts recently. In the Bronx, the borough’s only animal shelter run by the Center for Animal Care and Control was shut down. It was home for animals that were strays, lost, abused and adoptable.

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión — who has a one year old terrier named Smokey — got wind of the shelter’s closing, and was instrumental in its reopening. However, the shelter is only opened twice a week, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Although pleased with the outcome, Mr. Carrión is reportedly working to increase the shelter’s minuscule hours. “To preserve the quality of life for all Bronx residents, we need to ensure that the borough’s animal drop-off center is accessible not only during the week but on weekends when most people are off from work,” he told the Daily News.

There are two other animal shelters in New York City, one in Manhattan. The ASPCA (212-876-7700) on 92nd Street and 1st Avenue, and the other in Brooklyn (718-649-8600). Both are open five days a week and the ASPCA is open during the weekend for emergencies.

Miriam Figueroa is not pleased with the animal shelter’s limited days. “When people want to get rid of their pets and the place they want to take them to is closed, then it makes the situation even worse.”

Officer Andre Williams of the 44th Precinct said that they were not aware of the shelter being closed. But if a call comes in of a stray and/or dangerous animal, the emergency Unit will come out and the animal will be taken to the nearest shelter. Harming an animal is a crime and it is a felony in New York State.

The Bronx CACC is located at 464 East Fordham Road or by phone, (718) 733-0744.

Visit the New York CACC web site for photos of pets available for adoption.