June 29, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 Rensselaer County Democrats Push to Establish a County Animal Shelter

Rensselaer County filed legislation (P/23) to establish a bipartisan committee to research the physical and financial requirements needed to make a county-wide animal shelter in Rensselaer County. This committee will be tasked with coming up with a plan on/or before January 1, 2024.

Rensselaer County has realized financial equity from windfall sales tax revenue, as well as from recurring American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) aid. “It is time to use these resources wisely and address the voids we have in services in our county. An animal shelter is a critical need for a growing, vibrant county,” said Deputy Minority Leader Cindy Doran.

“The lack of a shelter in a community creates a bandwidth of health and safety problems that will have a serious impact on quality-of-life issues for residents of our county, we have heard from so many who already have been experiencing these problems on a daily basis,” said Minority Leader Peter Grimm.

The Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, the region’s current shelter, is incapable of serving the multiple counties in its midst, and has thus severed contracts with numerous Rensselaer County municipalities, leaving the vast majority of our 14 towns, 6 villages and the city of Rensselaer without an adequate location in which to secure stray, unwanted, abused or neglected cats and dogs, and in which to adopt, relinquish or identify these pets.

“The void created by Mohawk Hudson Humane Society leaves many Rensselaer County residents with absolutely no humanitarian options for managing any of these animal concerns. This has and will continue to find people making inhumane and possible illegal decisions on managing animal issues,” said Legislator Nina Nichols.