Jersey City Animal Care & Control Achieves 2025 No-Kill Shelter Recognition from Best Friends Animal Society
Mayor Steven M. Fulop and the Department of Health and Human Services announced today Jersey City’s Animal Care and Control has been officially recognized as a No-Kill Shelter for 2025 in Best Friends Animal Society’s Annual Shelter Statistics Report.
Since the city took over operations at the animal shelter in January, over 1,000 animals surrendered by owners. This year, Animal Care and Control successfully saved over 90% of the dogs and cats under their care.
“This national recognition is a testament to our team’s compassion and tireless work to protect and advocate for Jersey City’s most vulnerable animals,” said Mayor Fulop. “We are building a more humane, community driven approach to animal welfare, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we have accomplished together.”
With over 1,000 animals surrendered by owners, it’s not an easy lift for ACC, but cultivating working relationships with the community helps.
Last year ACC formed a partnership with neighborhood cat rescue groups who care for community cats by feeding, sheltering and conducting Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) campaigns. The Department of Health and Human Services gave grants totaling $90,000 to 19 rescue groups, offered free spay or neuter, and free check-ups and rabies vaccinations. These efforts improve the health of Jersey City’s community cat population and limit the spread of feline diseases, which reduces preventable euthanasia for Jersey City’s cat community.
Launched by the Department of Health & Human Services in January 2024, the Division of Animal Care and Control brings people and animals together at city and park events and makes a concerted effort to get the word out about animals that need homes. “In this short amount of time we’ve built a shelter that cares for the present and future of the animals that come to us,” said Stacey Flanagan, Director of Health & Human Services. “We have been proactive in getting animals adopted into loving homes and saving the lives of every cat and dog that we can. We are honored that our work is recognized by Best Friends Animal Society.”
The shelter is dedicated to helping Jersey City’s unhoused animal population find loving, forever homes. Through a series of successful adoption promotions fully spayed, neutered, and vaccinated dogs and cats can be adopted free of charge for veterans andseniors, and the division holds frequent special pricing events for the public.
“People have a special bond and responsibility to these animals, and they all deserve to be given a chance. Achieving no kill status means we are fulfilling our promise to both,” says William Byrnes, Division Director of Animal Care & Control. “With a 92% live animal outcome rate in 2024 we are on track to maintain our life-saving trajectory for a second consecutive year.”
Director Byrnes emphasizes that pet adoption is more than a transaction, it is about meaningful connections. He recalls the story of Garfield, an adult pit bull/boxer mix abandoned in a field and brought to the shelter in March 2024. “He wasn’t young, he wasn’t small, he wasn’t a trendy breed, but he had a gentle soul we never gave up on,” says Byrnes. After a year in the shelter, the staff celebrated Garfield’s anniversary on social media, which caught the attention of a visiting Jersey City native, who was smitten. Garfield was adopted and now enjoys a new life in Oregon, “breathing in the fresh air, and knowing that his faith in us was matched by our faith in him.”
To learn more about the meaning of “No-Kill” and the shelters working toward this national goal, visit:
https://bestfriends.org/no-kill-2025/what-does-no-kill-mean
To meet adoptable animals at Jersey City Animal Care & Control, visit:
https://pro.petfinder.com/pro/organization/nj1043/pet-listings/
About Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization dedicated to saving the lives of dogs and cats in America's shelters and making the entire country no kill. Founded in 1984, Best Friends runs lifesaving facilities and programs nationwide in partnership with more than 5,000 shelters and rescue organizations. From our headquarters in Kanab, Utah, we also operate the nation's largest no-kill animal sanctuary, a destination that brings our mission to life for thousands of visitors each year. We maintain the most comprehensive animal sheltering data in the country and make it accessible to the public, empowering communities with critical insights into the needs of their local shelters and how they can help. We believe every dog and cat deserves a home. And we believe that, by working together, we can Save Them All®.
All media inquiries should be directed to Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione at
[email protected].