Pet rescue group's new home: Massapequa mall

David Bernacchi beamed Saturday, and not only because a black-and-white tuxedo cat wiggled in his arms as dozens more felines dozed around him.

Bernacchi, who founded an animal rescue organization, Pets4Life, more than two years ago, was at the opening of the animal rescue agency's new home in a former pet store inside Massapequa's Westfield Sunrise mall.

He appreciated the old space -- a donated room at a Petco in Bay Shore, he said. But it was small and not very visible.

Now, the all-volunteer organization will be in a more traveled environment, taking in and trying to find homes for abandoned cats and dogs around the corner from Macy's, Frederick's of Hollywood and Lady Foot Locker.

The space, which the organization is renting at a discount, can hold almost three times as many would-be pets as the old location. Bernacchi said he'd found homes for about 300 cats and dogs before. "Now, I'm hoping to double that," he said.

On Saturday, he stood in the "cat room," which has shelves on which about 50 cats can climb or lounge. "I'm glad they get to have a playroom," said Bernacchi, 49, who doubles as a computer technician for LIPA. "No matter how bad a day I'm going to have, I'm going to come sit here, and everything is going to seem better," he said.

Bernacchi described the new location as a "dream come true" because it will put his organization on equal footing with commercial pet stores.

"Animals should be treated like a commodity," he said. He said his organization is the only animal rescue on Long Island housed in a mall and the more visible location would bring greater attention to what he and other rescue organizations are trying to do -- find homes for abandoned animals.

The tuxedo cat, Sweet Pea, he said, was among four cats left in a house when the owners moved.

In another area of the store, Rainman and Isabell walked with a shaky gait inside a pen. Bernacchi said they are otherwise healthy but have cerebellar hypoplasia, a neurological disorder. Someone had left them in a box outside the Bay Shore Petco.

Nearby, Anna DiBlasi, of North Valley Stream, asked about an orange tabby, which had been left in the house with Sweet Pea. "His name is Bootsie," said Joan Pantorno, of Amityville, one of the organization's roughly 50 volunteers. "He's very sweet."

"Is he playful?" DiBlasi asked, and got her answer when the orange tabby pawed a feather at the end of a stick she was using to tease him. She filled out an application, which among other things asks for references. It was one of eight filled out on Saturday.