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by: Cory McGinnis

Posted: Apr 17, 2024 / 06:55 PM EDT

Updated: Apr 17, 2024 / 06:55 PM EDT

EAST FLATBUSH, N.Y. (PIX11) — Flatbush Veterinary Clinic, a non-profit organization dedicated to tackling feline overpopulation, is caring for at least 20 cats discovered living in a cramped and unsanitary Brooklyn basement.

This shocking discovery underscores a major issue in the borough: too many cats and not enough access to affordable veterinary care.

“We simply cannot rescue or adopt our way out of this problem,” says Will Zweigart, Executive Director of Flatbush Cats.

Zweigart blames the crisis on the lack of affordable spaying and neutering options. “All of those cats in the basement came from just a few cats who were living in the building who did not have access to veterinary care because they had not been spayed or neutered. A few cats became more than 20 in just a couple months,” he explains.

Flatbush Cats opened the Flatbush Veterinary Clinic specifically to address this concern. The clinic offers affordable spaying/neutering and other veterinary services to the community.

“We’ve been doing rescue for about eight years, but this is a decades long crisis in New York City,” says Zweigart. He believes that increasing funding for accessible vet care is the solution.

Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan who is also the finance chair agrees. “Solving our city’s overcrowded animal shelter crisis requires upstream solutions and that begins with increasing access to affordable veterinary care,” he told PIX 11 News. “Flatbush Veterinary Clinic are offering services for much less,” he continues, “Now we must take their model and scale it. We can no longer rely on the kindness of people’s hearts to end the cat overpopulation crisis – the City of New York must subsidize it.”

Despite the grim situation, Flatbush Cats remains committed to their mission: “empowering pet wellness through affordable vet care,” says Will Zweigart. “We know that pets deserve a good, comfortable indoor life and we believe that this is the highest impact way that we can make that happen.”

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