Mark Ross is one of those people I have had the pleasure of working with whose name you never forget once you’ve spoken to him. Even without the mega talent he has with his camera, his authenticity as a human being is obvious to anyone with eyes to see or ears to hear. This story is, at first glance, about Mark and his devotion to the cats caught in the New York City area animal control system. But the story isn’t JUST about this. Because there are thousands of people just like Mark who volunteer their time, who are completely determined to save as many animals as possible, who are willing to move mountains to “save just one until there are none” and who are being brutally slapped down by an out of control NYC animal control system where politics instead of compassion is deciding the fate of thousands of dogs and cats killed every single day.
The volunteers at the NYC sheltering system are not the only ones being bullied and muzzle. The employees are being held under an even heavier thumb with severe penalties for speaking publicly or voicing any kind of criticism or negative comments about the unnecessary and senseless killings that are happening every day. Instead of working with volunteers and rescue organizations to minimize the amount of animals being surrendered into animal control for whatever reason (mostly financial hardship), NYC animal control appears to prefer a “locked down” policy that borders on the “Big Brother is Watching” set up we all abhor. Dogs and cats are being killed by the thousands for simply sneezing or having a runny nose. No effort is being made at all to get as many of these animals out the front door as possible by the suits that make all the policy decisions.
Fortunately, through bull headed determination and a complete devotion to the cause, my NYC rescue friends and associates are making steady gains into bringing the chaos and the slaughter to the attention of the public. We may disagree amongst ourselves sometimes about the means to the end but we don’t ever disagree that bringing this crisis out into the open for the public to see is the only way we are ever going to solve it.
The title of this story is a copywriter’s nightmare or wet dream, I’m not sure which. I surely don’t know what it means. But the content of this article is vital…read it and then pass it on.
Shelter Pix Locked Up Controversy Over Social Media Colors Book Project
by Amy Sacks, Special to the News
A picture is worth a thousand words, especially to the millions of voiceless shelter animals unable to plead for their own lives.
"Every one of them is a wonderful animal in their own way, but you have to make them enticing so someone will want them," said Mark Ross, 66, a former volunteer at NYC Animal Care & Control’s Manhattan shelter. He spent two years photographing cats and dogs upon intake and writing snappy bios for the shelter’s Web site. Read more
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