
USPCA Wants You to Know It’s Illegal To Do This to a Pet in New York
Though best intentions may lead you to believe that dropping off an animal, for whatever reason, at your local shelter is the best course of action, the Ulster County SPCA wants you to be aware that this line of thought could lead to a very unfortunate outcome for the animal if not done properly.
If you find yourself in a position to relinquish an animal, it is important to understand the rules and reasoning as to why you cannot simply leave it outside a shelter.

Small Tortoiseshell Kitten Abandoned Outside Local Shelter
The Ulster County SPCA's Humane Law Enforcement team is asking for the public to help them identify the woman who left a less than one-year-old kitten outside of their Kingston shelter during off hours last week.
Before the shelter officially opened for business on Wednesday, July 17th, surveillance footage shows a woman leaving the small tortoiseshell kitten outside the Kingston shelter, unattended in a carrier.
The call for assistance, once posted to social media, generated a great deal of conversation from the public about the perceived intent of the person who abandoned the cat outside the shelter, but the UCSPCA wants the public to know the right way to go about getting assistance if you need it.
The female kitten is currently getting comfortable in the shelter after having some basic medical attention and being spayed.
Abandoning An Animal at a Shelter is Illegal in NYS
The Ulster County SPCA has always been upfront with disclaimers when they share a story about an abandoned animal; more so to educate people on the dangers of these actions, and to provide education to the community.
According to the New York State Humane Association, it is a misdemeanor to abandon an animal whether from a house, apartment, or on a street. If a person abandons an animal which results in suffering, he or she could also be charged under Section 353.
In speaking with the shelter's Executive Director, Gina Carbonari, she indicated that when they share information about an abandoned animal, they don't tolerate harassment or threats from the community, or any sort of toxic behavior whatsoever, as that doesn't help the animal.
We want things to be drama free. We are here for the animals, and to educate people on how to properly care for, or properly relinquish an animal to someone else, whether that is rehoming or to a shelter.
The Nationwide Struggle With Full Shelters
No different than shelters nationwide, the Ulster County SPCA is currently struggling with the issue of being at FULL capacity, with animals in every office space, overflowing into emergency spaces, and foster homes full of animals waiting to be adopted.
We keep asking for help, and the help we need is for people to adopt and keep their pets in their homes - there are so many factors and challenges that people are facing and we get that. We are a no-kill shelter, but we only have so much space. What we need to do is make sure animals are spayed and neutered, we need to provide resources for keeping pets in homes, and get the community to help by adopting or fostering.
As many know, there are a lot of factors that go into being a pet owner, and the decision to have to relinquish or rehome a pet is never an easy one. For whatever reason, financial, housing insecurity, or mental health reasons, if someone needs to find a new home for an animal, it is important to know that you just can't leave a pet outside.
As all of the signage at the UCSPCA states, it is illegal to abandon an animal at a shelter, which really is no different than dropping it off in the woods.
When you leave an animal outside the shelter, you don’t know when someone will be around and what can happen with the animal between the time you leave and if and when someone else shows up. There are predators around, bears foxes, they've all been seen on the grounds of the shelter.
The team at the UCSPCA wants to reinforce that they aren't trying to be the bad guys, they want to believe the best in people when surrendering an animal, but they have to balance good intentions with the fact that it is very dangerous for the animal. They also want people to know there are resources, like the Humane Education program, and their Pet Ownership Support program.

Of course, there's always the option to donate/volunteer/help support the animals at the shelter if adopting or fostering an animal isn't something you can do at this time.
As for the adorable tortoiseshell, she'll be ready for adoption in no time, and you can check their site to see when she's available.
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