Volunteers bring gift of companionship to LI animal shelters

Six days a week, Cynthia Egido can be found walking dogs around Freeport, as she has done for the past three years.

A retired photographer and flight attendant who lives in Richmond Hill, Queens, Egido, 66, walks dogs living at Bobbi & the Strays, a no-kill animal shelter in Freeport.

Because the shelter is short-staffed, Egido has been volunteering there for eight hours a day, including taking photos for the shelter’s website.

“I give them quality time, giving them time outside of the kennels, which is the best they can ever have because they spend a lot of hours inside,” Egido said of the canines.

She’s one of about 25 volunteers who help care for animals at the shelter, which was founded as a nonprofit in 1998.

In addition to walking dogs for the shelter, Egido and her husband are caring for Rachel, an American bulldog, the third dog they’ve fostered in two years through Bobbi & the Strays.

“It’s a labor of love, but it’s a good thing,” she said. “At least they’re not living the day in/
day out in the shelter. And being home is the best place for them to be.”

Daniel Chen of Astoria, Queens, socializes kittens at North Shore Animal League America. “We could not do what we do without volunteers,” says Kristie Buccella of the animal rescue organization. A cat habitat at North Shore. | Photos by Linda Rosier

Pets are for life

Volunteers are the lifeblood of an animal shelter, notes Kristie Buccella, shelter director for Port Washington’s nonprofit North Shore Animal League America, the world’s largest no-kill animal rescue, which typically has about 400 cats and dogs available for adoption.

“We could not do what we do without volunteers,” said Buccella, adding that there are many opportunities for people to help with cats and dogs at the shelter, which has more than 300 volunteers. “Any time that they can donate to us — whether it is socialization, dog walking, helping with adoptions — we are very grateful for the volunteers that we do have and for those who may be considering volunteering in the future.”

Volunteering at North Shore for the past two years, Laurie Williams, 60, of Port Washington, walks dogs and assists with adoptions at least one day a week.

“They tend to go a little bonkers when they see you with the leash, because it’s literally the highlight of their day,” said Williams, who’s retired from managing hospital systems training, adding that she loves to watch the dogs’ personalities transform when they’re outside — “from frightened and stressed to wanting to play ball.”

Since 1944, the organization said, it has rescued more than a million animals, including many from around the country and overseas. Rescued animals are examined by a veterinarian, spayed or neutered and receive other necessary medical care.

To ensure that pets will be the best matches for adopters and their homes, adoption counselors screen and guide adopters in their search. They also try to offer dogs of various temperaments, ages, sizes and breeds to match individual preferences and lifestyles.

In August, several months after her two dogs died, Jennifer Connolly, of Miller Place, adopted Tater, a 1-year-old male hound mix rescued from Tennessee who also is blind.

The loss of their dogs left her husband and children “devastated,” explained Connolly, 52, vice president of an aerospace manufacturing company. “They were like family to us.”

Then they saw Tater’s profile on the North Shore Animal League’s website and fell in love soon after meeting him. Since he’s been home with them, they’ve helped him navigate by narrating his surroundings to him.

“He is the most joyful, curious happy dog,” Connolly said, adding that he can chase a ball and retrieve it by listening to the bounce. “It’s everything we could have hoped it could be. He’s brought a lot of love into our lives, and it’s just really taught me to believe he’s differently abled, like people say about humans.”

A pet, Buccella advised, is a long-term commitment that should be carefully considered.

“When people are looking to adopt, they’re looking to commit anywhere from 13 to 20 years with a pet,” she said.

“We always encourage the entire family, including children, to come down to adopt. This way, it is a full family decision, not just a gift,” Buccella said.

In addition, North Shore — like many shelters and rescue organizations — offers ways to make a donation as a tribute or memorial to a loved one — a gift of caring that comes with no leash attached.

Helping the community

In 2007, Linda Klampfl founded Almost Home Animal Rescue in Patchogue because of her abiding love for animals and “for the protection that they need and the help they need to find homes.”

Housing dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and ferrets, Almost Home — which has about 25 active volunteers who walk dogs, socialize cats, clean, and do laundry, paperwork, adoptions and computer work — also offers Training Wheels, an outreach program that assists pet owners in the community.

“The shelters are already so overcrowded that we want to keep pets in their home and not in the shelter system,” Klampfl said. People often return pets, mostly from pet stores, because they weren’t prepared for the time, money and effort the animals required, she said.

Training Wheels aims to support animals in economically challenged communities by offering assistance and resources to pet owners in need.

“We go into the neighborhoods and offer supplies, free spay and neuter,” said Klampfl, adding that Training Wheels also provides pet care education and training to pet owners.

If someone comes to surrender an animal to the shelter, Almost Home tries to help them keep it at their home by providing the means to care for it through Training Wheels. “We are a shelter with a heart,” Klampfl said.

Training Wheels coordinator Tara Sanfilippo, 34, of Lindenhurst, has been volunteering at Almost Home for about six years, providing food and coordinating medical care on monthly home visits. During the holidays, she also delivers gifts and clothing to the kids in the home.

“It takes a team effort. No one person can do it, and we are a donation-based rescue, so every little bit helps,” said Sanfilippo, who works as a care counselor for those who are developmentally disabled.

People often think they can’t volunteer because they can’t foster animals or don’t have enough time to walk dogs at the shelter, Sanfilippo said.

“They can help in other ways,” she said, “even by giving out Almost Home’s phone number to someone who needs it.” Or sharing the organization’s efforts on social media, she added.

Jessica Coy, 28, a cashier from Wyandanch, is among Training Wheels’ clients, receiving services for Blue, her 8-year-old pit bull.

“Tara taught me a lot about my dog that I didn’t know,” said Coy, who’s had Blue since she was 8 months old. “It’s a deeper thing than just her coming here and looking after her. She [Blue] gets a thrill out if it when she sees Tara.”

The Connollys, Kevin, left, Catherine, Jennifer and Meghan, with Tater, the dog they adopted from North Shore Animal League America. At North Shore, volunteers Laurie Williams, left, and Cliff Archer let Echo and Layla cavort outdoors. Puppies cuddle at Bobbi & the Strays in Freeport. | Photos by Connolly Family; Linda Rosier

Education is key

Before she opened Bobbi & the Strays’ Freeport location 12 years ago, Bobbi Giordano found foster homes for strays and ran adoption days at Petco and at area parks.

At Bobbi & the Strays, which has a second location in Glendale, Queens, there are separate spaces for big and small dogs, cats and even feral cats.

“Some of our volunteers take them home for the night or they foster them for a little while,” Giordano said of the shelter’s dogs and cats.

Though she hasn’t run them since the COVID-19 pandemic, Giordano plans to restart animal education programs in which kids visit the shelter to spend time with cats and dogs and read stories to them.

“Kids learn about animals and to respect them,” Giordano said. “And the animals really listen. It’s really nice — and they’re so happy.”

One of several paid employees at Bobbi & the Strays, Mark Dunham, 65, of Seaford, has worked as its cattery attendant for nine years.

“My primary role is to take care of the cats, which includes feeding, medicating, cleaning the rooms, cleaning their cages,” said Dunham, noting that he also meets with potential adopters and tries to match them with the right pet.

While finding homes for the cats is the primary goal, he said, it has to be “the right environment so that you’re assured the most chance of success.”

Potential adopters are vetted through an application process and may be rejected in cases in which, for example, children act aggressively toward the animals.

“Bobbi wants us to be as thorough as possible and to give the animals here — dogs and cats — the best chance of being adopted and never returning to the shelter,” said Dunham. “We always say every animal in the shelter is adoptable. It’s just got to be to the right person who’s going to put in the time that might be necessary to make that animal comfortable.”

Caring for animals — whether as a volunteer or through fostering or adopting them — can be beneficial for humans and animals alike.

For Connolly, extending kindness to all creatures is truly fulfilling.

“I often tell my kids that you start out doing what you think is going to be something nice for someone else, and it really ends up being a gift to you,” she said.

And volunteering at an animal shelter might be the most rewarding gift of all.

“The love you get back in return is just magnetic,” Egido said of the animals. “They are grateful, and they do love you and you do fall in love with them. You can’t help it. They’re just wonderful creatures to be around.”