Pets Alive Westchester Closing Announcement Contested, Emergency Meeting Called in Greenburgh
Animal welfare group Pets Alive announced last week that it plans to restructure its organization by closing its Westchester facility located in Elmsford, and consolidate operations to its Middletown, NY location.
Skyrocketing repair and maintenance costs of what the group calls the “structurally unsound Westchester shelter” coupled with declining revenue were reasons cited for the decision.
In response Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner sent out a statement, requesting people to come forward with ideas to keep the animal shelter in Westchester.
Feiner also asked if Pets Alive has the right to keep the land.
In an email Feiner notes that when Pets Alive took over the former Elmsford Animal shelter the land was donated for the sole purpose of being used as a no kill animal shelter.
Having worked to make that deal possible while he was on the Westchester Board of Legislators, Feiner said: “I do not believe that Pets Alive should be able to keep the land if they are not going to use the land for a shelter. Pets Alive should either give the land back to animal rights advocates who can take over the responsibilities of the shelter or if they sell the land 100 percent of the funds raised should be used to find another location in Westchester County.”
In a follow up on Tuesday, Feiner said: “I have received emails from other non profits. They have expressed interest in continuing to operate the shelter if Pet’s Alive does not want to continue operating the facility.”
An emergency meeting of the Greenburgh Town Board has been called for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night at Greenburgh Town Hall to discuss the matter and make public the offers and outrage coming forward.
Feiner also explained that the building used by the shelter was built with private donations. “Hundreds of volunteers have worked long and hard to provide important services to animal lovers. Many terrific matches were made by the shelter volunteers, helping to find homes for pets,” he said.
“Because the land was donated to the shelter, I strongly believe that Pet’s Alive should not be allowed to sell the land and make a profit at the expense of Westchester. Westchester residents, animal lovers, community leaders need to strategize and plan an aggressive effort to keep the shelter operating here in Westchester,” Feiner continued.
Feiner indicated that many of the emails and phone calls he has received expressed shock and anger that there was no warning given to volunteers who devote thousands of hours helping the pets. “Shelter supporters were given no chance to help Pet’s Alive avoid making this horrible decision to close down the shelter. No transparency. Seems like Pet’s Alive wants the money from a sale, and that they are not interested in helping to keep the shelter operating and helping Westchester pets,” Feiner concluded.
Pets Alive Westchester was closed from mid-March through July in 2014 due to cracks in the building’s structure, and the organization explained that it had spent most of the last year exploring options to permanently repair the structure with multiple experts but estimates to save the building total well over a million dollars with no guarantee that the building will be safe.
“Although closing the Westchester location was a very difficult decision to make, the reality is that no amount of money is going to make this building safe in the long term,” said Erin Guilshan, Executive Director of Pets Alive Westchester in a media statement. “There are issues that cannot be fixed. We have to think about what is best and safest for our organization and our animals.”
In the meantime, Pets Alive management said in addition to the building problems, they are also taking into consideration the operating costs for the building, which exceeds 30,000 square feet. Much of that space goes unused but still needs to be heated, cooled and cared for.
“The Pets Alive organization believes we have a fiscal responsibility to our donors. Although the decision was difficult, we cannot continue to spend our donor’s funds on a building that cannot be properly repaired and costs a phenomenal amount just to maintain. This restructuring will allow us to focus more on our mission to save the lives of the animals that need us,” said Pets Alive Chief Financial Officer Jenessa Cutler.
Both Pets Alive locations have waived their adoption fee for the immediate future. They will be offering animals for adoption to qualified adopters for a donation of the adopter’s choosing. The facility will stay open for several more months to rehome the animals already housed in the building, although no new animals will be taken in. Any animals remaining in Westchester will be transferred to the Middletown location.
Pets Alive also emphasizes that absolutely no animals will be euthanized because of this transition.
At this time, Pets Alive welcomes the support of the community in the form of financial donations and volunteer help on both sites to prepare for the transition of the animals. Donations can be made at www.petsalive.org or mailed to Pets Alive, 363 Derby Road, Middletown, NY 10940. Pets Alive is a registered 501c3 not-for-profit.
