A decade of teamwork in fighting animal cruelty in New York City has led to thousands of saved furry creatures.
The NYPD and ASPCA celebrated on Tuesday the 10-year-old anniversary of their collaboration working to rescue and rehome over 5,000 dogs and cats.
The Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad has spent more than a decade fighting back against animal abusers by working with the ASPCA to not only save critters in need but to also help them find their forever homes.
“We’ve been able to help 5,000 animals suspected of [being caught up in] animal cruelty. That’s a huge number, and it’s all thanks to the joint effort of our officers and the ASPCA team. Over the years, we trained more than 28,000 patrol officers to recognize and respond to cases of animal abuse and neglect. This training has been crucial in making sure that no animal suffers in silence,” NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella said.
The April 9 anniversary ceremony was held in the rear of One Police Plaza and was attended by two very special guests: French Bulldog Dozer and Yorkie Theo who are both survivors of mistreatment.
Surveillance footage inside a Bronx elevator caught Dozer’s former owner beating him. After a search warrant was issued, police seized Dozer. Although bruised and beaten up, the dog made a recovery and found a new home.
“It broke my heart, it wasn’t just him, there were two other dogs involved as well. It was just terrible,” Dozer’s new owner Bernadette Griffin said. “It’s great to see the police force getting involved like that as well with the ASPCA. Ten years, that’s a long time.”
Theo, on the other hand, was rescued after his owner took him into a vet and the vet reported that the clinic found evidence the pup had been physically abused.
“At that point, we started an investigation we had to get a warrant, get the animal removed from the vet to the ASPCA, where their forensic veterinarians were able to conduct an examination that we would use for court and eventually make an arrest on it,” Adrian Ashby, commanding officer of the Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad said.
According to CEO of ASPCA Matthew Bershadker, the partnership has resulted in an 300% increase in animals saved since 2014.
