The city has cemented its partnership of more than three decades with Animal Care Centers of New York, despite intense concern from advocates.
The $1.4 billion contract with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will allow the nonprofit ACC to run the city’s animal shelters until Aug. 31, 2052.
Records show the contract was registered by the Comptroller’s Office on Jan. 4.
Activists argued that the ACC — which, as The Post has reported, operates an arcane “At Risk” list that gives condemned pets just 18 hours before they are put down — isn’t the right organization to take care of the city’s vulnerable animals.
“A 34-year contract makes ACC a mega-institution, locking out any accountability,” longtime animal rights activist Marilyn Galfin testified at a July public hearing about the partnership.
“It would limit competition and innovation.”
Councilmember Robert Holden (D-Queens) said “stricter guidelines” were needed for the contract, the longest awarded to the ACC since it began partnering with the city in 1995.
“Entering into a long-term agreement further stabilizes ACC, setting it up to continue to provide New York City with model programming,” the Health Dept. said in a statement.
“This long-term contract is a testament to the Mayor’s commitment to finding loving homes for homeless and abandoned animals.”