About once a month I fall asleep with my fingers ready to hit "snooze" in a few hours. At around 4:15 AM, after the alarm and I have reconciled our differences, I am ready to leave the apartment wearing one of my favorite pieces of clothing: my white polo shirt from Animal Care and Control of New York City.
Animal Care and Control (AC&C) is an underdog in the world of animal rescue. An independent non-profit organization, AC&C is responsible for New York City's municipal shelter, and it rescues, treats, and finds loving homes for approximately 40,000 animals every year. AC&C is the only shelter in the city to take in every animal that enters its doors; no animal is turned away due to illness, injury, or temperament.
AC&C is featured every Saturday on WNBC's "Weekend Today in New York" in a segment that shares pet tips, informs the public about upcoming adoption events, and showcases some of the wonderful animals who are looking for their new families.
Which brings me back to my early morning departure as I head off to pick up the animals that will soon be making their television debuts. When I arrive at the shelter I am greeted by wagging tails and effervescent purrs. My partner in early morning television and I locate our new friends for the morning. Many of the animals that we encounter have come off the streets, but there is an increased number of owner surrenders due to the economic crisis; AC&C has a wonderful program called Safety Net to help pets stay in their homes.
When we arrive at the studio, we set ourselves up in the hallway outside Jimmy Fallon's new studio, occasionally maneuvering around sets and road cases from Saturday Night Live. Getting the animals ready for their close-ups is less glamorous than our surrounds might suggest; it usually entails a whole lot of petting and often a sprint or two down the long corridors in an attempt to tire out an energetic pup.
The animals are always received like rock stars when they enter the studio: crowds form, women swoon. We take our marks and hope that the dog doesn't start chasing its tail (or worse, the kitten that I'm holding). The segment ends without incident and it's time for us to head back to the shelter, where there are sometimes people already waiting to adopt the animals they've just seen on television.
I often stick around for a bit, spending time with the exuberant pit bulls and their thump-thump-thumping tails or scratching the faces of gentlemanly cats as they stretch impossibly long in their cages. I then head home, ready for my own cat nap.
Of course, I don't love the polo shirt for its style (though the emblem over the wearer's heart is a fitting detail); I love that it represents the possibility of a new beginning for at least one more New Yorker.
As part of our green initiatives, Great Performances donates its shredded paper to the spay and neuter ward in the Manhattan shelter. For more information on how you can help AC&C, please visit: http://nycacc.org/getinvolved.html.