Animal shelter still in disarray
Community members and animal activists protest outside Hempstead Animal Shelter on Saturday, after a 17-year-old video surfaced that purports to show former shelter employee Patricia Horan and others with a kitten that was apparently about to be euthanized. Credit: Danielle Finkelstein
What has happened at the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter is disgraceful ["Shelter boss loses post," News, March 15]. Members of the public want transparency and reform, and what do they get after speaking at town board meetings for months? They get a municipal body finding more and more ways to shut the public out, while spending $7 million of our money irresponsibly.
Three volunteers were banned from the shelter in October, and to this day, nothing anywhere states the reason these women were banned. These women were vital to saving the lives of thousands of dogs and cats.
The town still has not addressed the main issues, which are to initiate a volunteer program to walk the dogs and interact with the cats, and most important, to place the animals in homes. There are many people at the town board meetings who have expressed interest in helping, but they are told that there is no program in place yet.
To make matters worse, the town has stopped the public from getting easy access to information on shelter pets and from placing "do not destroy" orders. This was a long-standing policy that helped protect animals when someone was interested in adoption.
Timeliness can mean the difference of life or death for shelter pets. Shelter pets need volunteers. They need to be socialized.
Now more than ever, it's imperative that the local community attend town hall meetings, show interest in the pets and ask questions.
Michele Mondi
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