Displaced Sandy dog Bruno to stay on Long Island

Bruno will stay on Long Island, after all.

The last pet to be adopted from Nassau County’s emergency pet shelter — which housed cats and dogs whose owners were displaced from their homes after superstorm Sandy and could not take back their pets — will go to a couple in Melville.

The story of Bruno, a rottweiler believed to be about 7 years old, went viral after Newsday reported that pet shelter workers were scrambling to find him an appropriate owner. His caretaker’s home was badly damaged from Sandy, and though he visited Bruno weekly at the shelter, he relinquished the dog earlier this month, just as the shelter was closing.

Since then, Bruno has been staying at Northwind Kennels, in upstate Bedford. Penny Smith-Berk, the kennel’s owner, said she spent the last few weeks winnowing down a list of more than a hundred prospective owners, all of whom had emailed in.

Marc and Karen Siegel, who had paid Bruno visits throughout his stay in Garden City, stood out, she said. Smith-Berk called them “the perfect choice.”

Marc Siegel, 50, said the couple has no children and has previously owned rottweilers. Last fall, their two pets, a rottweiler and a husky mix, succumbed to illness and old age, respectively.

“At his age, I didn’t know how many other people were going to want to adopt a 7-year-old rottweiler,” Siegel said. “We want to make sure for the rest of his life, he’s cared for in a good and friendly environment.”
 

SEE PHOTOSAerial views of Sandy damage