CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) — As some Capital Region leaders are calling the outbreak in animal abuse cases an epidemic, tough new regulatory standards for animal shelters will go into effect December 15th of this year. Some of the local animal shelters and rescues in the area said they are worried the changes could shut them down.
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“We knew right away that our current facility would not meet the new requirements of this law.” Lynette Koch with Whiskers Animal Benevolent League said the new regulations regarding capacity limits, spacing of animals, temperature control and vet care, are very costly. “Between purchasing the building and renovating, it would likely be between $3 million and $4 million.”
The leadership at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society explained they too are dealing with the adjustments. “I will tell you, as of right now, we are still not 100% in compliance. If we lose power for more than 4 hours, we have a plan to either evacuate the animals or have backup source of energy that would cost us about $110,000 to get a new generator in here,” said CEO Ashley Jeffrey Bouck.
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The CEO went on to explain that she’s concerned that the smaller operations will struggle the most, “For the those of us who have been working very hard to provide, you know, a gold standard of care, all the must areas for the ASV (Association of Shelter Veterinarians) guidelines, some of them may unintentionally be closed down because of this.”
Libby Post is the New York State Animal Protection Federation’s Executive Director, and she spearheaded the new regulations and said folks need not be afraid. “No one’s getting shut down. And ultimately what AG and markets wants to see is progress,” said Post…