Hello!
Thank you. From every corner of Yonkers and across New York State, you’ve stepped up, signed on, and spoken out. Because of you, our petition now stands at 1,694 signatures—a powerful testament to what happens when a community refuses to look away. You’ve given voice to the animals suffering in silence and strength to the workers and volunteers who show up every day despite impossible odds. We are deeply, sincerely grateful for each of you.
But we must be clear: Change has not come. The cages are still packed. The staff is still overwhelmed. The volunteers are still burning out. A Certified Behaviorist is still not hired. Vet care for the animals still remains sub par.
Mayor Spano and Commissioner Sansone have seen our numbers, our emails, heard our calls—and done nothing. That ends now.
One longtime volunteer states, "I tear up every time I think about a prospective volunteer being sent out that door. The loneliest cats and dogs in the world watch a ‘never-to-be’ friend, advocate, and companion turned away when they are in such desperate need.”
Here’s where we stand—and what we’re demanding:
• 1,030 signatures from Yonkers residents
• 1,369 from New Yorkers across Westchester, Orange, Albany, Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, and beyond
This is not a whisper. This is a demand from the people of this city and this state.
And now, our fight has been amplified by The Scoop NY in a powerful feature that lays bare the crisis at Yonkers Animal Shelter: chronic overcrowding, understaffing, and a system failing the very animals and people it’s meant to protect.
Read and share the full article here: https://www.thescoopnewyork.com/p/abject-cruelty-and-legal-threats
We owe immense gratitude to The Scoop NY and its editor for standing with shelter animals across New York State and giving this issue the spotlight it deserves. This coverage is proof we are being heard. But hearing is not enough.
We demand action:
Here are the critical issues and demands:
Issue 1: Purposefully Stunted Volunteer Program Leading to Isolation and Behavioral Collapse
Demand: Launch a robust program led by a certified trainer/behaviorist to recruit and train at least 50 new volunteers via six yearly orientations, ensuring (with 30% attrition) two 15-minute dog sessions and one 15-minute cat interaction daily per animal.
Why this is important: YAS only has 17 volunteers (75% fewer than similar-sized NYS shelters) to cover 7 days a week/100+ animals, giving dogs just 3-4 minutes/day out of their kennels—often zero if a volunteer is absent. Most of the cats languish without any interaction for days due to YAS having only 5 cat volunteers. This violates Article 26-C’s enrichment mandate and ASV (Association of Shelter Veterinarians) best practices. Volunteers cost the city NOTHING yet provide 40-60% of interactions in successful shelters, reducing stress, delaying behavioral issues, boosting adoptions by 25%, and preventing depression in 70% of kenneled dogs and cats. Commissioner Sansone has directed YAS management to ignore volunteer inquiries for YEARS, resulting in a stack of over 100 volunteer applications sitting in a folder and collecting dust. Untrained volunteers create safety issues for the staff, volunteers, and animals - like the loss of our sweet Thelma on June 28, 2025 due to an avoidable dog fight fatality from an overwhelmed and untrained volunteer.
Volunteer Voice: “When the dogs see us come in, they all get so excited and anticipate going out, but often there are too many of them and not enough of us that some don’t get out. The one thing they look forward to each day doesn’t happen. You know they are let down by the look on their faces when they see us leave, and that image haunts me driving home.”
Issue 2: Unqualified Evaluations and No Expert Support Causing Skyrocketing Returns/Safety Risks
Demand: Station an accredited behaviorist 3 days/week for evaluations/training and a vet 2 days/week for spays/neuters/wellness.
Why this is important: Uncertified staff/volunteers' guess at dog temperaments, violating Article 26-C (only trained staff may evaluate). Adoption returns were at 63% pre-onboarding of a certified trainer and behaviorist in February 2024. The return rate dropped to 20% within one year with behavioral support. We are now seeing the dog adoption return rate climbing again without professional evaluations. It is proven that on-site behaviorists cut euthanasia rates 40% statewide; increase successful adoption matches by 32%, vet care and regular spay/neuters prevent 2-3x higher aggression in unneutered males in a shelter environment, festering infections, and tragedies like Hope’s death, which you can read about here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GVsnBpqQm/
Volunteer Voice: “We have at least seven dogs needing strong and trained handlers, but without more help and a trainer, they’re just languishing in isolation. When we had a behaviorist, they thrived and had someone who could work with them—now, it’s a daily tragedy.”
Issue 3: Dangerous Understaffing Breeding Neglect, Disease, and Despair
Demand: Hire to match NYC’s 1:15 staff-to-animal ratio, ensuring sanitation, housing, and safety per Article 26-C and ASV guidelines.
Why this is important: Just 2-3 workers/shift for 100+ animals leaves employees overwhelmed, kennels filthy, broken equipment unrepaired, and animals sitting in their own waste. This defies NYS mandates, spikes disease/injuries/euthanasia, and endangers all.
Volunteer Voice: “It’s disheartening watching employees overwhelmed with over 100 animals—only two workers yesterday, juggling cleaning, feeding, everything. It’s unsustainable and dangerous.”
Issue 4: Limited Access Blocking Adoptions and Enrichment
Demand: Extend volunteer shifts to 6 hours/day (3x2-hour shifts), 7 days/week; keep the shelter open one weekday until 6 PM for adopters.
Why this is important: Current restrictions rob animals of care and adopters' opportunities. The recommended model has proven effective in local NY shelters in all areas of management, care, and safe placements.
Volunteer Voice: "The situation here is heartbreaking. With so few of us, adoptable dogs deteriorate before our eyes. Commissioner Sansone has overlooked this for years, but if we speak up, we risk dismissal—and then the animals have no one left.”
We are asking you to please amplify our petition, which details the avoidable nightmare at YAS with photos and updates: https://c.org/CYrGKqGXH5
More at @ReformYAS on Facebook.
Mayor Spano. Commissioner Sansone. This is your responsibility. Ignoring 1,694 signatures—and growing—is not leadership. It’s neglect.
Your mission now:
Read the Scoop NY article and share it widely.
Share this petition with your networks—tag local officials, post on social media with #FixYonkersShelter. Contact Mayor Spano Mayor@yonkersny.gov | 914-377-6300.
Keep signing, keep pushing. Every new name adds weight. We’re aiming for 5,000. We will get there.
You’ve already proven what’s possible when New Yorkers stand together. Now let’s finish what we started. These animals don’t have time for delays. The people caring for them don’t have energy to spare. We do this for them.
Thank you for your fire, your heart, and your refusal to back down.
In solidarity for the animals,
Reform YAS