08/11/2026
Barilla, Rummo, and Banza are the faces of the hidden cat crisis that individual and small rescuers are having to clean up without help from the city.
These cats came from a hoarding situation where the owner was evicted and left 8 cats behind. ACC was called, and came without contacting anyone to get the cats. ACC picked up three of the cats and stated they’d take the rest if the rescuer brought them in. Another rescue group took two of the five cats left behind.
We’ve talked about the connection between animal abuse and other crimes and how according to the the Animal Legal Defense Fund, NY has weaker animal protection legislation than NY, NJ, CT, and PA. In this same home, there was a 24 year old wheelchair bound daughter who weighed as much as an 8 year old when she died.
Because ACC is trying to maintain its status as a “no kill shelter” (a misleading way of saying we will just stop letting in animals so we don’t have to count them) and abide by the overreaching Dept of Agriculture new shelter standards it’s taking in fewer animals each year at the same time that the public need has increased. This means that individual rescuers and rescue groups (who receive no money from the city for animal rescue) are increasingly trying to juggle the overwhelming number of animals abandoned because of lack of pet friendly housing and affordable vet care (including spay/neuter).
Animals aren’t dying directly under the care of ACC, instead they are dying on the streets, left behind in filth when the shelter won’t accept them, or thrown out windows as happened to the 13+ cats we wrote about a few months ago.
The new Mayors Office for Animal Welfare needs to address the fact that as the city’s open intake shelter, ACC is causing massive harm to animals, pet owners and the community when they refuse to take in animals in need. We were able to intake these because the individual rescuer has spent days pleading with rescue groups to help. Most of the rest of the animals in need (dogs and cats) don’t have such a faithful advocate.
