In 2020, Will Zweigart of Flatbush Cats had the opportunity to sit down with Esther Koslow of Shelter Reform Action Committee. You can read the first interview here.

Two years later, they were able to reconnect to chat about how COVID has impacted the cat overpopulation crisis in New York City, the systemic issues at play, and launching a new spay neuter clinic to provide affordable and accessible vet care to more pet owners and rescuers.

ESTHER:  The last time I interviewed you was two years ago.  That was in the early months of the pandemic. Back then you spoke of COVID's impact on the City's free roaming cat population, as well as the ACC and TNR groups. Has the cat landscape worsened since then?

WILL:  While COVID has been an accelerant for many different issues, it's always important to start with this foundation: we’ve had a cat overpopulation crisis in New York City for decades. So yes, COVID made a problem worse, but Flatbush Cats was founded well before COVID to solve the problem.

COVID has made everything more challenging and more expensive. In fact, it’s been a perfect storm. There are more and more cats on the streets, fewer vets, and costs have exploded. For many low income cat owners, even if they could find a vet near them, there’s no way they can afford those services.

For decades, tens of thousands of cats have fought to survive outdoors in New York City. The municipal shelters have been full for decades. Independent rescue groups are overwhelmed with help requests and huge medical bills.

All of these things are directly connected to the lack of affordable access to veterinary care. You can literally connect the dots.

Just this year, New York City shelters reported an additional 25% increase in cat surrenders. We know from research that financial barriers are the number one reason why New Yorkers are surrendering their pets.

ESTHER: Financial barriers AND housing insecurity, don’t forget that. 

WILL: Yes - financial barriers include housing, so these problems are all connected. But we know what the solution is. It’s spay/neuter. And Flatbush Cats is getting straight to the root of the problem by opening a high quality, affordable spay/neuter clinic right here in Flatbush Brooklyn.

ESTHER:  And when I saw the announcement about that clinic, I decided this was the ideal moment to circle back to Flatbush Cats to find out what you’ve got planned.

WILL:  We look at the problem from both sides. Shelters are overcrowded. At the same time we've got tens of thousands of cats fighting to survive on the streets.  Those cats are not even counted.

ESTHER:  On that note, I must interject my longtime objection to the relatively recent adoption of the “Community Cat” program. Municipal shelters – including ACC  -- have chosen to refuse entry for “stray” cats – both friendly and feral based on that program.  The public’s told to just leave them on the street. The cat will be fine. Well, certainly the friendly cats won’t. Okay, I’ve gotten that off my chest. 

Back to Flatbush Cats. Does your group know how many cats are on the streets in New York City?

WILL:  No one can tell you that number. Some estimate as many as 500,000, but the City has not invested any resources into calculating how many cats are outdoors. And for several years, they haven't asked residents questions about whether their animals are spayed/neutered or not.

ESTHER:  Meaning, the City hasn’t a clue about the extent of the problem.

WILL:  We know from firsthand knowledge the problem is getting even worse. 

That’s why we developed a sustainable business model for a clinic. We have already signed a 10-year lease for a 2,800 square foot medical facility. We’ll use every inch of space to deliver thousands of high quality spay/neuter and other preventative wellness services every year.

ESTHER:   A 10-year lease?  That’s ambitious.

WILL:  It was necessary for several reasons. First, it’s incredibly expensive to build out a brand new veterinary facility. We’re starting with a so-called “white box” construction. We start with four walls.  The design and construction will fit our exact specifications, including a large surgical suite designed to perform high volume surgery, and top of the line HVAC. Most commercial spaces are not designed for a veterinary clinic. That's a very niche project.

And in fact, there are no veterinary clinics like this in our central Brooklyn area.  Flatbush is a veterinary “desert.”

ESTHER:  Where is the clinic located? 

WILL:  Great question. We didn't go for the cheapest real estate on the edge of town. We are building a brand new veterinary facility in the heart of central Brooklyn - because accessibility is essential. 

ESTHER:  Will the clinic be convenient to bus and subway lines? 

WILL:  Yes, that was a critical consideration. We’re right on Flatbush Avenue, our namesake, which runs pretty much through the entire borough. We chose a location based on population density and access to mass transit. We are near the subway. We are near several key bus lines. You can even take a dollar van (a popular form of transportation) to get to us.

We’re centrally located because transportation is a key issue for many of our clients. We have to be close. We have to be convenient. Many clients can’t afford to take a day off from work to travel across town. You know, if you have to take an Uber somewhere, that is not affordable for everyone.

ESTHER:  How about those lucky few pet owners who have access to a car? 

WILL: If you're a car owner in New York, you’re parking savvy. You’ll find a spot nearby. There’s street parking; there's meter parking. And for better or worse, Flatbush Avenue is very conducive to double parking. So, you can pop into the clinic. It will be very seamless.

There will be a quick drop off experience because clients will have already signed up their pets. They’ve already got a scheduled appointment. It's designed to be a convenient in and out.

ESTHER: So, location, location, location was Flatbush Cats’ mantra in picking a site. Just how expensive was the location?

WILL:  Expensive for us as a small nonprofit, but a good deal when compared to other parts of Brooklyn or even Manhattan. But you have to measure that cost against the clinic’s impact over a decade. We’re in the middle of a capital campaign right now to make a huge change for the next decade in New York City - and that's worth fighting for.

Our fundraising kickoff was the quiet phase, led by institutional and foundation donors, which is typical for any capital campaign. We’ve been fortunate to receive multi-year grant support from several partners who believe in our mission and understand this real estate market.

They also understand that this absolutely has to happen. We’ve received very strong initial funding to kick this off. But the price tag has increased significantly because of inflationary pressures and supply chain issues and real estate costs. 

Now we're in the public phase. We're really gonna need support from everyone at every level in order to make this happen.

ESTHER: What level of funding are you seeking from individual donors? 

WILL: We’re receiving donations at the $25 level, $2,500 level, $25,000 level. We need support at every level in order to not just get the clinic open, but to be able to drive down the prices for our client.

ESTHER:  The City’s Department of Health provides the major share of funding for ACC. Is the City providing any funding toward the clinic?

WILL:  Not currently, due to their own bureaucratic challenges. We hope to approach the DOH in the future. In fact, a portion of the dog licensing fees that the DOH collects is specifically earmarked for spay/neuter.  But the only persons who may apply for that funding are private vets and licensed animal shelters.

What’s ironic is that under the current rules, the City’s spay/neuter funding may not go to a non-profit that focuses on high volume spay/neuter work with our own licensed vets.

We will not rely on government funding. Even discretionary funding at the City Council has already been budgeted into 2024. We absolutely cannot and will not wait for that.

But we certainly plan to engage with the City. In order to drive prices down to make veterinary care extremely accessible for every New Yorker, the City has to be a long term partner in this endeavor.  I’m confident they’ll see the value of our work - and honestly how much money we can save taxpayers. For decades the City has paid a high investment in treating the symptoms of animal homelessness. We trust they’ll see that it’s also smart to allocate more dollars towards solving the problem.

ESTHER:  Do you plan to approach help at the state level, too?

WILL:  We’ll certainly explore that, too. We can seek it in parallel with private funding. But our model is designed to stand on its own without government funding. Their role is to help bring the prices lower, not keep the doors open.

ESTHER:  When do you plan to open the clinic?

WILL:  By the second quarter of 2023, if not earlier. We’ve engaged our general contractor and the architect/design team. We've completed the floor plan, the layout, all the specifications. Construction documents are completed and we’re beginning the buildout now.

Everyone knows how COVID has created a logjam for ordering materials. If you tried to order a door right now, you might be waiting three to six months for delivery. So we've already begun ordering the longer lead stuff like the HVAC system. And we’ve had to be very resourceful - make decisions and keep moving.

ESTHER: Just how much do you need to raise?

WILL:  Supply chain issues are real and they’re affecting us in a significant way. Our total budget has almost doubled due to supply chain choke points. We’re now at a funding goal of $2.8 million, and we will make this happen - no question.

Our supporters understand these challenges - it’s the “2022 effect” with decades-high inflation increases. Nothing on our original budget had remained the same, but that is typical for projects right now. 

They've also seen the cycle of cat homelessness for years and years and years, and they know that we must make significant change right now and make these investments right now.

Financial barriers are the primary driver behind this crisis - so of course these cost increases and affordability issues are also impacting families in a major way.

ESTHER:  And would Flatbush Cats be adverse to naming rights for a big donor?  Like the “David Geffen Wellness Suite”?

WILL:  Certainly open to it. There are opportunities for naming rights and recognition.

ESTHER:  Will, in order not to strain our readers’ attention, let’s end this part of our interview now. In our next newsletter, I’ll ask whom your team sought out for suggestions on the design and operation of the clinic, any legislation at both the City and State level that needs to be changed to aid the mission, and what you plan beyond this one clinic.

WILL:  In the meantime, if folks are not in a position to support the clinic financially, we’ve put out a ton of amazing videos about cat overpopulation and the solution on our YouTube and Instagram pages. We urge them to take a look and share with other cat lovers in their life.

ESTHER:  Thanks, Will.

It’s time to do something big!

You can help Flatbush Cats build a brand new veterinary clinic - providing affordable and accessible care to more pet owners and rescuers, saving thousands of lives for years to come.