Amid Animal Warehousing Protests, Humane Society of New York Board Member Alexandra Rowley Resigns

Alexandra Rowley has resigned from the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of New York (HSNY) amid protests against animal warehousing at the prominent Manhattan shelter. Her resignation comes five days after animal rights activists staged a second protest at her home on the East Side of Manhattan. She is the third board member to resign since March 2022.

TapInto Sutton Place/Lenox Hill reports that Alexandra Rowley resigned from the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of New York

Between March and May, 348 animal advocates sent letters to Rowley and several of her colleagues on HSNY’s board, calling on them to re-open the building to the public or send the animals to foster homes or other adoption centers. Instead of addressing the concerns raised in the letters, Rowley asked Bonnie Tischler, HSNY’s former Adoption Director of 22 years, to use her influence with the advocates to shut down the letter writing campaign. Tischler said she would comply if Rowley provided proof of adoptions since HSNY closed the building to the public in April 2020. After committing to provide Tischler with that information, Rowley stopped communicating with her.

On April 16th and May 2nd, dozens of animal rights activists staged protests at Rowley’s home, hoping that she would listen if they delivered their message through a bullhorn. During the protests, activists had discussions with and distributed information to dozens of people who live in her building and on her block. While some of Rowley’s neighbors expressed frustration about the noise, others thanked the advocates for speaking out against animal cruelty.

Three members of the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of New York have resigned amid protests against animal warehousing at the prominent Manhattan shelter. (From top to bottom: James Gregorio, C. Jones Perry, Alexandra Rowley)

Given the close proximity of Rowley’s home to HSNY, several of her neighbors told the protesters that they are aware that HSNY is closed to the public because they see people congregating in front of the building, which houses a low-cost vet clinic in addition to the shelter. Unlike adopters, who can meet animals at other shelters, many of the vet clinic clients have no choice but to use HSNY. Some of the neighbors acknowledged that HSNY’s continued use of COVID as an excuse to keep the building closed to the public makes no sense. 

TapInto Sutton Place/Lenox Hill, an local media outlet, has reported on the animal warehousing protests at the home of Humane Society of New York board member Alexandra Rowley

One pedestrian who came upon the protest told Tischler, the former Adoption Director, that she attempted to adopt a cat from HSNY but was told she couldn’t enter the building to find one that would be a good match for her. She said the protest validated her concern that the animals aren’t being seen by potential adopters. 

In response to an Instagram post about a protest at her NYC home, Humane Society of New York board member Alexandra Rowley describes activists as “bullies” and suggests that they have ulterior motives

In an apparent effort to shut down the protests, Rowley’s husband, Stephen Wallis, came outside to speak to Tischler. During their exchange, which was caught on camera, Wallis asked Tischler if she believed the protests were “right,” as in appropriate. Tischler responded by telling Wallis to urge his wife to “open the building,” which has been closed for more than two years, so that adopters could meet the animals. 

Stephen Wallis, the husband of Humane Society of New York (HSNY) board member Alexandra Rowley, confronts Bonnie Tischler, HSNY’s former Adoption Director, about the protest in front of his building

On May 7th, five days after the protest, Rowley sent a one sentence text message to Tischler, stating, “I am no longer affiliated with the HSNY.” The news did not appease Tischler and the other activists. Her decision to resign, Tischler says, “does nothing to help the animals who she left behind and who were warehoused on her watch.”

From March to May 2022, 348 people sent letters to Alexandra Rowley and several of her colleagues on the board of the Humane Society of New York calling on them to re-open the building to adopters or send the animals to adoption centers that are open to the public.

Activists launched the campaign to help the warehoused animals in October 2021, after TheirTurn corroborated whistleblower allegations that the shelter was closed to the public under false pretenses; that adoptions had come to a virtual standstill; and that the animals were being warehoused. The Executive Director of the shelter, Sandra DeFeo, has denied the allegations, telling Donny Moss of TheirTurn that HSNY has been “doing adoptions all along” since closing the building to the public. When Moss suggested that she send the animals to foster homes until she re-opens the building, DeFeo told him that “HSNY is their foster home” and that the animals are “well taken care of” in their cages, which she described as “apartments.”

Animal rights activists call on Humane Society of New York board member Alexandra Rowley to stop warehousing animals at the prominent Manhattan shelter

The activists say they intend to continue protesting at Alexandra Rowley’s building until she issues a statement that denounces the animal warehousing and calls on HSNY to either re-open the building to adopters or send the animals to other adoption facilities. The activists are also demanding that HSNY post all photos and bios of their animals online so that people know they exist.