The money will be funneled through the non-profit Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, a conglomerate of animal rescue groups.

According to the ASPCA, the program began in 2005 as a 10-year initiative, dubbed the Maddie’s Pet Rescue Project in NYC, with a goal of making New York a no-kill city for pets of reasonable health and temperament.

The ASPCA says that as a result of the program, rescue group Animal Care and Control of NYC saw a 33 percent decrease in euthanasia at its shelters last year. Adoptions in the city reached a new high of 28,483 in 2009, and spay/neuter surgeries were up 23 percent from 2008.