Best Friends Animal Society eyes Woodbury space to treat more cats and dogs

A national animal welfare organization aims to expand its footprint with a proposed Woodbury facility that would provide medical care to homeless dogs and cats.

Best Friends Animal Society, a Utah nonprofit with six centers across the country, proposed plans for a 14,000-square-foot office building on Crossways Park Drive. The nonprofit would convert the space into a site capable of treating animals from a network of shelters along the East Coast. The nonprofit would conduct procedures needed so the pets can be adopted.

Marlan Roberts, executive director of Best Friends Animal Society in New York City, said the organization works with 5,000 shelters and rescue organizations across the country, many of which are underfunded.

“We are looking to create a vital operation to support lifesaving work and expand our work in New York City,” Roberts said in a phone interview. “We are really looking to create a facility that can support our own animals.”

The organization’s adoption site in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood works with “smaller, understaffed” shelters that lack medical capabilities or space to handle the number of dogs and cats they take in. The nonprofit said it needs more space in the state to comply with laws requiring dogs and cats to have separate housing and relief areas, Roberts said.

The new proposal would support space for about 50 cats and 30 dogs. The site would perform spay and neuter procedures, along with vaccinations and other medical services to get the pets ready for adoption.

Garrett Gray, an attorney for the nonprofit, said at a recent town board meeting the facility will not be open to the public or offer boarding services. However, the town’s planning board recommended the organization apply for a special use permit for a boarding facility to comply with town code.

“The principal use of the property is for animal lifesaving and adoption support,” Gray said. “Short-term overnight housing of animals will only be an ancillary function.”

Roberts said he plans to work with Long Island shelters, including the town’s, if the plan is approved.

Laurie Scarpa, the town’s deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Works, oversees the town’s shelter and said it is not over capacity.

The shelter is set for renovations to enhance the kennels and completely overhaul its HVAC system — allowing it to accept larger dogs.

“It’ll be a complete renovation,” Scarpa said. The shelter will stay open during the work.

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ