Stringer: City Shelters Harming Animals

Hundreds of doses of controlled substances are unaccounted for at municipal animal shelters, according to a new audit by the City Comptroller's office.

Comptroller Scott Stringer said stray and abandoned cats and dogs are suffering because of mismanagement by Animal Care and Control NYC, the non-profit that has a $51.9 million contract with New York City, managed by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 

An audit from Stringer's office found 499 instances in four months where animals received expired medications. His staff found 224 bottles of controlled substances with record-keeping anomalies, and the equivalent of 44 bottles were unaccounted for.

"What we found was a disaster waiting to happen for animals and staff alike," Stringer said at a news conference Sunday on the Upper West Side.

A spokesperson for Animal Care and Control said the organization is in the process of updating its record-keeping system and improving its facilities, which are located in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island.

The Health Department, which oversees the contractor, said the city has funding from less than $7.2 million per year to more than $12.8 million since 2010 to update facilities and equipment. 

Stringer said Animal Care and Control should build new shelters in the Bronx and Queens to relieve overcrowding, and he said the organization should enlarge its board of directors to include local animal rights advocates.

Animal Care and Control said it takes in more than 30,000 animals every year, and eight out of ten of them end up adopted or returned to their owners.