An urban teaching sanctuary & adoption center located in Brooklyn, NY.
Creating Refuge for the City’s Forgotten Victims
When most people picture New York City, images of skyscrapers, bustling streets, and crowded subways are rarely accompanied by chickens or fishes. But as the most populous place in the US, NYC is also home to a plethora of nonhumans animals, including many unfortunately suffering and in need of assistance. NYC Animal Sanctuary (NYCAS) is here to provide a permanent home to some of these survivors, a safe recovery site to others before they reach their forever homes, and educational tools to support the community in operating their own sanctuary. NYCAS specializes in farmed birds, aquatic animals, and victims of NYC’s over 100 slaughterhouses — the highest concentration of slaughterhouses in the entire US.
Meet the Crew!
NYC Animal Sanctuary is currently home to over 200 permanent residents of 24 species.
Stefanie
Stefanie is one of the shyest residents at the sanctuary and spends a lot of her day in the rocky structures of her tank, emerging for food. Another victim of the pet trade, Stefanie is a crayfish who joined the sanctuary in December 2020 and she is able a year old. 43-75 billion crayfish, crabs and lobsters are farmed and slaughtered each year and we’re grateful Stefanie is safe and sound here at NYCAS.
Stella
Don’t be deceived by Stella’s small size and low position, as she is a fiery, assertive, and sometimes yelly member of the family. Stella likely came from a backyard chicken flock before she was found running through a Newark park in the summer of 2019. She came to the sanctuary with a bad case of the parasite Scaly Leg Mites and a big personality and quickly stole our hearts.
Samantha
Samantha is one of the most gregarious residents and our local interior designer! Originally a victim of the pet trade, Sam was bought as an inch-long baby by someone unprepared for her life-long care. As she grew and reached over a foot in length, her tank remained small and soon she could barely turn around. Void of enrichment, the floor of her tank was covered in her own excrement. Today, Sam enjoys shoveling sand, rearranging her tank decor, bopping her toy octopus, and observing all the goings-on at NYCAS. Sam is an Oscar Fish, a cichlid common in the pet trade and hunted and eaten in many parts of the world. She is about eight years old and joined the sanctuary in September 2017.
Sally
Sally and the rest of the neocaridina shrimp crew joined the sanctuary in January 2021 when their human was moving. Surprisingly graceful, always busy, and oddly whimsical, Sally and her friends are among the most entertaining residents at NYC, and the smallest at just a centimeter in length!
Linda
Linda is an incredible little quail! She came our way via Manhattan’s Wild Bird Fund, where they determined she is almost fully blind and slightly neurological. We were unsure if she would integrate with the rest of the quail flock, but Linda surprised us and immediately fit right in, doing a superb job navigating the quail enclosure!
Coral
In November 2020, a Sunset Park, Brooklyn slaughterhouse employee spared four birds, including Coral. Coralis a red star hen, the top breed used in the egg industry for brown eggs, and she would have spent 18 months - 2 years in an egg farm before being shipped for slaughter. She is incredibly sweet, sometimes timid, and happy to be alive.
In the Media
Sharing the stories of NYCAS’s residents to inspire a kinder world.
The Drew Barrymore Show on CBS
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2020, Mary Turkey was the opening guest on The Drew Barrymore Show on CBS, reminding a national television audience the morning before the largest turkey-eating day in the US that turkeys are individuals.
Best Friends Furever on CBS
After first broadcasting on Animal Planet Canada, the story of the unexpected friendship between chicken Rose and late chihuahua Biscuit aired in the US on Best Friends Furever with Kel Mitchell (of Kenan & Kel fame) and broad the individuality of chickens to an international audience.
