By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — The city's stray pet shelter, Animal Care and Control, has begun banning volunteers from publicly posting anything negative about their facilities, sparking fears the agency is trying to gag whistleblowers as they struggle with budget cuts and dwindling manpower.
The agency confirmed that it implemented a new volunteer policy in late August prohibiting anyone from posting material that casts it in a negative light either in public or on their personal web pages, in what some critics say is an effort to shut down criticisms of worsening conditions at area shelters.
"This is clearly a violation of First Amendment rights. The only way we’re going to get true reform anywhere is if people are allowed to speak up,” said East side Assemblyman Micah Kellner.
Kellner said he abhorred “the idea of gagging volunteers for giving up their time and energy for what the city of New York should be paying for," when "they’re doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.”
Over the past year, since AC and C has lost four percent of its budget and increasingly relied on unpaid help, volunteers have alleged that animals are left in their own waste, go without food and water for long periods of time and are not socialized properly, Kellner said.
In response to the claims, Kellner recently asked Mayor Michael Bloomberg to repeal the volunteer rules. He also asked Comptroller John Liu to look at Animal Care and Control's finances as well as the allegations of substandard animal treatment.
The fallout from volunteers comes as Animal, Care and Control, which operates under the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, faces a $457,000 budget cut for 2011.
Even though the budget shrank for the agency, intake of stray cats and dogs continues to increase, with the agency taking nearly 39,000 in 2010 so far.
Officials at Animal Care and Control denied that they are trying to silence criticism. But a spokeswoman said they want volunteers to report problems to site administrators before posting anything online in order to make sure that issues are fixed, said Julie Bank, executive director of the non-profit.
"This is not about whistleblowers, we are 100 percent on the same team with those folks," Bank said.
She added that the new rules are designed to ensure that volunteers were better trained in caring for animals so that the organization can draw more helpers in the future, she said.
Bank said she expected to meet with Kellner to discuss the rules as well as the financial state and future of Animal Care and Control.
"We can't do the job that we do without the help of our volunteers," she said.
