Highlights from the UCSPCA Newsletter

HUMANE LAW — THE PEKE STORY

Humane Law Enforcement is an important and expensive part of what we do.

The animals that come to us through Humane Law, either having been surrendered or seized, are often in need of medical care. We sometimes take in large numbers of animals from a single individual. Animals who have not been voluntarily surrendered may wait many, many months for the courts to decide their fate. The cost of caring for these animals mounts as we wait to either return the animals or are granted custody and are able to place them in new homes.

All of the above was true in the case of the Pekingese dogs that came into our shelter.

Our Humane Law Officer, Keith Kovacs, received a call about a large number of dogs that were being kept in a house in extremely unhealthy conditions. Officer Kovacs found 29 dogs in the house in very poor health. He was able to persuade the woman keeping the dogs to turn over custody of 18 dogs to the UCSPCA. She refused to turn over custody of the remaining eleven. All of the dogs were taken to the shelter. All required medical care and extensive grooming. The situation could have been overwhelming, but a tremendous outpouring of support saved the day. We are extremely grateful to all who helped. Board Vice President Cindy Caporale contacted the ASPCA and quickly got a generous grant to help cover our expenses. Our shelter vet, Dr. Barbara MacMullen volunteered her time to clean the dogs’ teeth. Susan DeNicolas, a licensed vet tech, also donated her services. Lorene Oakes of Club Pet volunteered her services to do much needed initial grooming. Jeanne Kropp visited every Sunday to maintain their grooming and to socialize the dogs. Many of the Pekes have now been adopted. The remainder await the decision of the court. All are in much better condition than when they came to us.

In recent months we also had a large seizure of cats, so we have had many mouths to feed. Our reward is the happy purring of cats and many little Pekingese tails wagging.

General Sterling Price formerly Aldo, a little kitty with a new home and a new big name.

Welcome to Our New Board Members

We are excited to announce the appointment of three new members to our Board of Directors. Nora Nelson, an Operations Manager at Verizon, brings her management experience, exuberance and new fund raising ideas to the board. We first met her when she began volunteering for the UCSPCA.

Susan Plonski, an attorney and long time animal advocate, brings her legal experience  and years of knowledge and dedication to animals rights to the board. She is familiar to board members because of her work with us on an animal hoarding case.

C.J. Popp, a Senior Vice President at Lehman Brothers, brings her marketing, sales and technology experience to the board. We also met C.J. as a volunteer who kept “popping” up every time we were in need.

We look forward to continue to work to improve the UCSPCA with the help of our new board members.

Upcoming Events
Mark your calendars for some upcoming events.

Rabies & Distemper Clinic For Dogs & Cats
Saturday March 15th 1:00pm-4:00pm
No appointment necessary
Rabies Vaccination$10
Distemper Vaccination $15

Annual Garden Party
at the Shelter May 17th
Rain date: May 18th

Our 1st Golf Tournament
Monday, June 16th at the Woodstock Golf Club
Registration Begins at 8:00am
Shot Gun Start at 8:30am
$90 Greens Fees include 18 Holes and Cart
Continental Breakfast, Lunch & Prizes
For more information and to reserve your tee contact Nora Nelson at 516-622-9343

Clinic Wednesdays
Beginning March 5th the clinic will be open on Wednesdays to offer the following services:
Bathing of cats and dogs-(price depends on size)
Clipping matted fur (price depends on size)
Nail trims $10
FIV/FELV tests $30
Heartworm tests- $35w/first Heartguard tablet included
Frontline sales and applications $15
Microchipping $35
Call 331-577 Ext.16 for appointments

Canine College
Does your dog need a little higher education? Try Canine College, $75 for a five week course taught by certified obedience instructor and Kennel Manager Adam Saunders. Call 331-5377 ext.14

Thank you to Mitch...
a faithful volunteer who walks dogs in addition to cuddling cats.

A Community that Cares

Patrick Camara and his wife adopted a dog from the UCSPCA who had spent many months at the shelter. Patrick bought a dog bed for the dog and noticed how much the dog loved the bed. Patrick thought about the many other dogs at the shelter who would be comforted by a bed of their own while they awaited adoption. He decided that every year he would raise money to buy dog beds for the shelter. The first year he raised enough money to buy ten dog beds. This year Patrick raised $1,300 to help comfort the shelter dogs with 31 dog beds, 116 dog treats and 58 dog toys. Kirstene Craig, the operations manager of Petsmart on 9W in Kingston donated over $730, providing 15 dog beds and two containers of treats. Karen Clark-Adin, the owner of Bop-to –Tottom went out on her own and bought four jumbo sized dog beds and two small nest style dog beds.  Karen said “I love all animals and it breaks my heart to think that the dogs are without their families…I am happy to jump on this little band wagon and do a good deed.” Louise Cutler, board president, told Patrick”Many of our animals at the shelter are terribly sad. They don’t understand why they are here. So anything that comforts them goes a long way towards helping them heal.” Thank you to Patrick, Karen,Kirstene and Petsmart for your kindness.