SPCA loses insurance, 'facing extinction'

The Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which investigates some 2,500 complaints of animal abuse a year, is losing its insurance coverage and may have to shut down or severely curtail its operations without immediate help from the county, the head of organization says.

But county officials are balking at the SPCA's request that Suffolk indemnify the not-for-profit against future legal claims, saying that would pose an unacceptable legal risk.

Roy Gross, the SPCA's chief and board president, said he remained hopeful legislators or insurers would work out a solution. If not, he said, "we're facing extinction," which would put the burden of investigating animal abuse complaints on police.

With County Executive Steve Levy's support, lawmakers last week passed a proposal by Legis. Tom Cilmi (R-Bay Shore) to give the SPCA $25,000 for insurance. But they tabled a proposal by the legislature's majority leader, Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor), to grant the indemnification. Suffolk is insured for up to $3 million per case, Cilmi said.

Concern by county

Dennis Brown, chief of the municipal law bureau in the county attorney's office, told lawmakers that County Attorney Christine Malafi prefers Cilmi's approach. "In the long run, taking into account litigation costs, as well as indemnity dollars, the exposure to the county could be far greater," than picking up part of the SPCA's premium, Brown said.

Gross said the organization's insurer, the Granite State Insurance Company of Boston, has notified the SPCA that it is not renewing its policy, which expires April 19.

Cilmi said that he has spoken to the SPCA's Garden City-based insurance broker, Brown & Brown, but was told that the few other firms who insure groups such as the SPCA have been reluctant to provide coverage because of a pending civil suit against the Suffolk agency. He said a woman whose cat with feline AIDS was seized by the SPCA filed the suit. Neither the insurance company nor the broker returned calls for comment last week.

Lawsuit filed

In December, Claudette Lacast of Brookhaven filed suit in State Supreme Court in an effort to regain custody of animals seized by the SPCA, including a cat named Tommy with feline AIDS.

Lacast alleges that when she took a puppy to a veterinarian for a dog bite, SPCA investigators came to her home and violated her constitutional rights by pressuring her to let them in under threat of arrest, said her attorney Richard Young. At that point they seized the injured puppy and Tommy, Young said. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Gross would not discuss the lawsuit, but said in general terms that, "the last thing we want to do is charge somebody unless it's warranted, or to remove someone's animal unless we have to. It's the last resort."

In a news account at the time, Gross said the male puppy was suffering from hypothermia, severe emaciation and frostbite.

County Police and sheriff's officials have said they'd pick up the slack if the SPCA were not able to function. Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said one detective in each precinct is trained in animal abuse cases.