Shelter Reform Rally in New York

Waiting to be adopted.

Dogs visiting the rally.

Photos of animals that have been saved through the efforts of the Facebook pages, Pets on Death Row and Urgent Part 2. Photo credit for some images:

Mark Ross.

A dog who visited the rally takes a break while her human checks out a nearby performance.

NEW YORK -- A rally was held today in Washington Square Park to push for reform of Animal Care and Control of New York City, following

recent service cancellations at the nonprofit organization

.

Phone service was shut off, making it difficult for prospective adopters to inquire about animals at its Brooklyn, Manhattan or Staten Island shelters. Also, anyone missing a cat or a dog will have to search through the agency's Web listing of found animals, instead of being able to call.

Meanwhile, the nonprofit -- which receives much of its funding from the city -- has euthanized hundreds of animals this year, despite working toward becoming a no-kill agency. The reasons have ranged from the animal having a cold or gingivitis to being "too young".