Hempstead board hires 2 shelter vets
High salaries at Hempstead Animal Shelter
Newsday reported Jan. 29 that nine Hempstead Animal Shelter employees were paid more than $100,000 in 2010, and that its $3-million payroll equaled New York City's 138-shelter system and dwarfed the total budgets of each of the eight other municipal shelters on Long Island.
Video | Photos | Town shelter budgets/salaries | Related story
This American Terrier mix waits to be adopted from the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter in Wantagh. (Jan. 26, 2011)
Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
The Hempstead Town Board Tuesday night hired two veterinarians to provide full-time, on-site services at the town's embattled animal shelter.
At an estimated cost of $242,000 a year, the two vets - Martin Zipkin of the Hewlett Animal Hospital, and Jeffrey Siegel, who operates a mobile animal clinic - will work a combined 42-hour workweek.
"We will continue to ensure that the loving dogs and cats at the Hempstead Town Animal Shelter receive the highest standard of care during their stay," Town Supervisor Kate Murray said in a statement.
The move is one of several the town announced it would make in mid-November to improve care following a management shake-up and the disclosure of a Nassau district attorney's office investigation of the shelter.
Reaction among animal-welfare advocates on hand for yesterday's board decision was mixed. Some expressed cautious optimism about the veterinary hires.
In the past, the town has contracted with four animal-care providers who send veterinarians regularly to the shelter. Those four contracts are to remain in place.
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