Detectives from the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals charged a Hauppauge woman with animal cruelty on Dec. 15 after a lengthy investigation. The announcement was made in a press release on Dec. 18.
Roy Gross, Chief of the Suffolk SPCA, said that its detectives charged Roseanne Lucrezia, 61, with misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, alleging that Lucrezia neglected her fourteen-year-old Husky type dog by failing to provide required medical treatment and sustenance resulting in pain.
The dog’s teeth were fractured, rotting, and broken and exhibited signs of significant physical pain upon examination of the mouth by Veterinarians. A malodorous smell indicating poor care was detected from the dog’s mouth. The dog’s body condition was significantly thin with the bones of the spine, ribs, and hips visible.
Lucrezia was arrested on December 15 at her residence, booked at the Suffolk County Police Department’s Fourth Precinct, and released. She is scheduled to appear in First District Court In Central Islip on December 27, 2024.
The Suffolk County SPCA remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all animals in the county. If you witness any incident of animal cruelty or neglect in Suffolk County, please contact the Suffolk County SPCA at 631-382-7722.
Welcome to the 36th edition of Paw Prints, a monthly column for animal lovers dedicated to helping shelter pets find their furever home.
Corn-Nut
Meet Corn-Nut
A good source of protein and healthy fat, meet Corn-Nut, an eleven year old Maltese mix at Little Shelter in Huntington. Knowing the importance of staying fit and active in his senior years, he’s always ready for a walk, throwing in an occasional sprint as interval training! While a bit reserved when meeting new friends, word on the street is that you can win him over with a good butt scratch! Known to be intelligent, curious, and playful, Maltese have trusting and gentle dispositions. If you’re looking for someone bursting with flavor and fun, stop by Little Shelter to meet the one and only Corn-Nut! *Corn Nut is mostly housebroken* 631-368-877
Manny
Meet Manny
Meet little Manny about town, an adorable six year old Maltese mix available for adoption at Little Shelter in Huntington. Handsome and stylish, he’s always well dressed and ready for any occasion, the perfect plus one for this holiday season and beyond. This affectionate fellow loves belly rubs, treats, and sweet talk…in that order! Take a stroll around town to see the Christmas lights, and with Manny by your side, the winter blues will be a thing of the past. It’s not what’s under the tree (or menorah) that matters, it’s who’s gathered around it. Stop by to meet the one you’ll want to kiss under the mistletoe…his name is Manny. *Manny is not completely housebroken.* 631-368-8770
Shelby
Meet Shelby
This adorable 60 lb shar-pei mix at Brookhaven Animal Shelter is approximately 3 years old and ready to bring joy into your life! Shelby is a sweet and lovable girl with a happy-go-lucky personality. While she’s still learning how to play with toys, her enthusiasm for life is infectious.
Shelby arrived at the shelter as a stray, so her previous history is a mystery, but she’s eager to create new memories with a loving family. She’s always excited for walks and enjoys those delightful Zoomies in the yard. Since she is so strong on leash and high energy Shelby would need a home with a yard to zoom around in. Shelby is also a people-person (or should we say, people-dog) who loves checking in for pets and being social.
Shelby seems to have a liking for other dogs, but a meet and greet would be necessary to ensure compatibility with your furry friend. We’re unsure about her compatibility with cats, so further testing would be needed. Shelby would thrive in a home with children aged 16 and up.
If you’re ready to provide Shelby with a loving home and help her continue to blossom, please fill out a match maker application at the shelter’s website. She can’t wait to be your loyal and loving companion! 631-451-6955
Fleetwood Mac
Meet Fleetwood Mac
This sweet and incredibly outgoing tabby cat was found as a stray in November and was never claimed. Estimated to be approximately 2 years old, he is now safe at the Smithtown Animal Shelter and looking forward to a bright future. If you are looking for a clingy cat that craves your attention, this is the boy for you. He does have a runny eye that needs to be cleaned periodically. Don’t “Go Your Own Way,” — come visit Mac today and be the hero of his “Dreams.” 631-360-7575
Mark Freeley and Storm
Good Boy Storm
The staff at TBR News Media would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to Mark T. Freeley and his family on the loss of their beloved dog Storm. The English Golden Retriever passed away on Nov. 12 at the age of 14. Storm became a local hero when he rescued a fawn who was struggling to stay afloat in Port Jefferson Harbor. We know the Three Village community and beyond will miss him. He was a good boy.
———————————
‘Home for the Holidays’
Did you know? The Town of Brookhaven Animal Shelter, 300 Horseblock Road, Brookhaven will waive all adoption fees for the month of December. Come meet their amazing dogs and cats looking for their forever homes this holiday season and make their only wish come true. 631-451-6955
Rescue is a lifestyle. Adopt, don’t shop.
Check out the next Paw Prints in the issue of January 23.
Paw Prints is generously sponsored by Mark T. Freeley, Esq.
This magnificent, all-black, domestic short-haired lady at the Smithtown Animal Shelter is estimated to be less than a year old. The lovely Leslie was brought to the shelter as a stray. The Team at the Shelter believed she would be claimed however, no one came for sweet Leslie.
Leslie is the PURR-fect, well-mannered ladylike feline. Upon making her acquaintance, she will approach you in a laid back fashion, and will gladly accept pets, snuggles and a good scratch behind the ears. It only takes a short period of time for this bewitching beauty to reveal her fondness for humans, and receiving unconditional TLC. Leslie is a sweet, laid-back, girl who genuinely appreciates the simple pleasure of human companionship. She is young, healthy, and ready to find a lucky family to love and be loved unconditionally.
Leslie would thrive in a serene home with older children. She prefers to be in the company of humans and is not fond of other animals in her space, therefore, she would do best as an only pet.
If you are interested in meeting Leslie, please fill out an application to schedule time to properly interact with your prospective soul mate in a domestic setting.
The Town of Smithtown Animal & Adoption Shelter is located at 410 Middle Country Road, Smithtown. Visitor hours are Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Sundays and Wednesday evenings by appointment only). For more information, call 631-360-7575 or visit www.townofsmithtownanimalshelter.com.
From left, Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio, County Executive Ed Romaine and Pam Green
On Nov. 7, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and New York State Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio presented a proclamation to Pam Green, Executive Director of Kent Animal Shelter, to recognize the tireless and unwavering dedication of Kent in saving homeless animals over the past 55 years.
The proclamation went on to say that the shelter is a beacon of hope and a haven of healing for animals that were abused or abandoned giving them a second chance in life. It was presented at the Kent Gala that was held at the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead attended by 285 guests. Kent Animal Shelter is currently building new facilities at its Calverton location. The building project, expected to be completed in the spring of 2025, includes a new kennel and isolation facilities.
This 4-year-old 90 pound male chocolate lab at the Smithtown Animal Shelter is fun and affectionate. He loves all people, taking walks and FOOD!
This handsome, healthy, and energetic boy was brought to the animal shelter due to a change in his family’s circumstances. We simply can’t comprehend how this dapper dog hasn’t managed to lock down a great home yet.
Buster is athletic, and is not shy when it comes to showing off how fast he can fetch a tennis ball. He gets the “bootie wiggles” upon greeting him… which will provide for endless laughter and joy for one lucky family. Buster is a rambunctious tweenager, who has some resource guarding, so he may not live with younger children or other animals. His best life would be with a family who has experience, patience and understanding, when it comes to the highly intelligent mind of a labrador. A little persistence is worth it for this chocolate lab, who melts hearts and has a very long life of unconditional love, laughter and memories to give.
If you are interested in meeting Buster please fill out an application and schedule a date/time to properly interact in a domestic setting, which includes a Meet and Greet Room, the dog runs, and a Dog Walk trail.
The Town of Smithtown Animal & Adoption Shelter is located at 410 Middle Country Road, Smithtown. Visitor hours are Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Sundays and Wednesday evenings by appointment only). For more information, call 631-360-7575 or visit www.townofsmithtownanimalshelter.com.
10 of the dogs were confined to a small bedroom. Photo from Suffolk County SPCA
Detectives from the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals charged a Centereach man on Nov. 23 with neglecting to maintain a sanitary environment for his eleven dogs. Roy Gross, Chief of the Suffolk SPCA, said that its Detectives charged Christopher DiGiovanna, 42, with multiple misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, alleging that DiGiovanna failed to provide a habitable living environment to the animals in his residence.
Chief Gross stated that on November 23, 2024 on or about 4:30 PM, members of the Suffolk County SPCA, Suffolk County Police Department, Town of Brookhaven Animal Control and Code Enforcement executed a search warrant on DiGiovanna’s Centereach residence after receiving a complaint about the living conditions causing the animals distress.
Eleven dogs were recovered from the residence, some underweight, filthy, flea ridden, ungroomed, and covered in urine. The air was so noxious with ammonia from urine, feces, mold, and mildew that it stung investigators eyes and throats making it difficult to breathe. Fly excrement and cobwebs covered the interior of the home’s walls and ceilings. Rats scurried about inside the broken out portions of the walls and floors. Ten of the dogs were confined to a small bedroom on urine and feces-soaked sheets with live electrical wires exposed, hypodermic needles, and other drug paraphernalia strewn about.
At least two of the dog’s upon preliminary examination tested presumptive positive for cocaine exposure. The property was deemed unfit for human occupancy by Code Officials. The dogs will be available for adoption to the public upon medical recovery. DiGiovanna was arrested during the search warrant execution on Nov. 23, booked, and held in police custody on two active arrest warrants for unrelated cases.
DiGiovanna is scheduled to appear in First District Court In Central Islip on November 25.
The Suffolk County SPCA remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all animals in the county. If you witness any incident of animal cruelty or neglect in Suffolk County, please contact the Suffolk County SPCA at 631-382-7722.
A Column Promoting a More Earth-Friendly Lifestyle
By John L. Turner
John Turner
I’m occasionally asked what are some of the things a person can do to protect wildlife. One of the suggestions I always recommend is the next time you go to the local post office, take the time to buy a federal duck stamp. You can also easily purchase duck stamps online and at sporting goods stores. A duck stamp can’t be used for postage but does allow you free access to any national wildlife refuge. I keep mine in my wallet at all times.
Ninety eight percent of the current $25 cost of a duck stamp goes directly toward buying wetland habitat that waterfowl and so many other species depend upon. Since the program began in 1934 conservationists have committed about $800 million resulting in nearly 6 million acres of land permanently protected as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system. As these totals illustrate, this low profile program has been a remarkable success!
Artists from around the country submit their paintings of various waterfowl species and one lucky contest winner is selected by a panel of judges. The duck stamp available through June 2025 by artist Chuck Black highlights a male pintail duck, a handsome and graceful duck that lives up to its name with a few long pointed feathers that form its tail.The male’s chocolate brown head, cheek, and neck, the latter of which is pierced by anupward pointing white dash, are diagnostic field marks of this species which overwinters on freshwater lakes and ponds on Long Island.
So don’t forget to buy a duck stamp when you next visit your local post office.
A resident of Setauket, author John L. Turner is conservation chair of the Four Harbors Audubon Society, author of “Exploring the Other Island: A Seasonal Nature Guide to Long Island” and president of Alula Birding & Natural History Tours.
A beloved resident of the Holtsville Ecology Center & Animal Preserve has died. The Town of Brookhaven’s Highway Department and Ecology Center staff have announced that Honey the black bear passed away on Nov. 22 at the age of 27.
“[We] are saddened to report the passing of our beloved Honey, the resident black bear who has delighted and educated children about her species for more than a quarter century. While the average life expectancy for a black bear rarely exceeds twenty years, Honey lived to twenty-seven. This is a testament to the love and exemplary care she received from our dedicated staff,” read the announcement.
Honey, and her brother Pooh, who passed away more than five years ago, were ambassadors for wildlife education to the countless thousands of residents who visit the Holtsville Ecology Center each year..
While the Ecology Center is home to more than 100 injured or non-releasable wild animals and farm animals including deer, a buffalo, bobcat, wild horses, alpaca, buffalo, coatamundi, hybrid wolves, an arctic fox, goats, horses, pigs, cows, alpaca, deer, various birds, pigs and goats, just to name a few, Honey was a favorite among visitors. Many took to social media to pay their respects and share their memories.
“RIP Honey Bear. You are now reunited with your brother Pooh Bear. You both gave my daughter, husband and I so many memories that we will cherish forever,” read one post. “My daughter fell in love with her when we visited a couple of months ago – she’s going to be heartbroken. So very sorry for your loss – thank you for caring and loving her,” read another.
“The injured or domesticated, non-releasable, animals who call the Ecology Center home provide an opportunity for encounters that helps to instill a passion for conservation in our next generation. While Honey will be missed and long remembered, the mission of our Ecology Center lives on,” read the release.
A unique aspect of the whale is that the public will be able to step inside to view its internal organs. Photo courtesy of the Whaling Museum
The Whaling Museum & Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor hasannounced the new fabrication and acquisition of a life-size inflatable whale, which will travel to locations across Long Island in a new “Whale on Wheels” educational program.
This will be the only whale of its kind in the state of New York and will serve as a crucial educational tool to address the needs of children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the museum’s traveling programs.
Photo courtesy of The Whaling Museum
The inflatable whale is a 45-foot Sperm Whale. A unique aspect of the whale is that the public will be able to step inside to view its internal organs. The inflatable is a custom piece fabricated by the company Landmark Creations in Minnesota, and will use pressurized air with a blower. The whale’s design was modeled utilizing multiple sperm whale images.
Museum educators will use the whale to bring the sperm whale’s story, history, and biology to life. Sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales, and are found in all deep oceans worldwide. With their massive, square-shaped heads, adult males can weigh 90,000 to 100,000 pounds, which is more than 700 people combined. From the height of Yankee whaling in the 19th century through the 1970’s, sperm whales were heavily targeted by American and international whalers, pushing the whale to the brink of extinction. An international ban on whaling went into effect in 1987.
Today, sperm whale populations are still slow to recover, and are currently listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Sperm whales are threatened by vessel strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, marine debris ingestion, and other threats from human impacts on the ocean environment.
Similar to real whales, the inflatable whale is designed with realistic scars on its body, such as propeller scars on its tail, to help demonstrate the pressures whales face today.
Main support for this project comes from a $16,050 grant from The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, which primarily supports the study of Long Island history and its role in the American experience. Robert D. L. Gardiner was the 16th Lord of the Manor of Gardiner’s Island until his death in 2004. The Foundation is inspired by Gardiner’s personal passion for New York history.
“We are very thankful to the Gardiner Foundation for partnering with our Museum to enable our education team to provide schools and libraries with the greatest teaching tool of all — a traveling life-size whale,” noted Nomi Dayan, Executive Director of the museum.
Additional funding for this project comes from an Innovation Grant awarded from the Long Island Library Resources Council, which supports unique and new projects in cultural institutions in the region.
The whale will arrive at the museum at the end of November, and the museum plans to introduce the whale to the public in Spring 2025.
Young horseshoe crabs at West Meadow Beach, Stony Brook. File photo
By Mallie Jane Kim
Legendary conservationist Jane Goodall added her voice to those asking Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to sign a bill that would prevent the harvest of horseshoe crabs in New York waters for biomedical or commercial fishing purposes.
Dr. Jane Goodall Photo courtesy of National Geographic
“As leaders, we have the unique ability to ensure that vulnerable species like the horseshoe crab, which has been part of our planet’s history for over 350 million years, are protected for future generations,” Goodall wrote in her plea to Hochul.
The Horseshoe Crab Protection Act passed the New York State Assembly and Senate last June, but the governor has yet to sign or veto it. If she does not sign the bill by the end of 2024, the bill is essentially vetoed and would have to go through the legislative process again next year.
Local advocates and environmental groups who sent letters and organized postcard campaigns to motivate Hochul to call up the bill welcomed Goodall bringing her influence to the cause.
“It’s a rare and special event when Dr. Goodall reaches out and requests New York help her in saving our planet’s endangered species,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Farmingdale-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “Governor Hochul should heed the wisdom and vision that Dr. Goodall provides and immediately sign this important legislation.”
The pioneering primatologist, who has dedicated her life and career to protecting wildlife and the environment, pointed out in her letter the role horseshoe crabs play in coastal ecosystems as well as the food chain for migratory birds such as red knots.
Horseshoe crabs are considered “living fossils” since they have been around an estimated 450 million years, and they are more closely related to scorpions and spiders than to crustaceans. The species, which is monitored and regulated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, has seen a steady decline in recent decades.
Environmental advocates worry that since Connecticut and Massachusetts recently enacted stronger protections for horseshoe crabs and other neighboring states are considering rule changes, biomedical agencies may draw their attention to New York waters.
Currently the main harvesters of horseshoe crabs in New York waters are commercial fishermen, who use the animals as bait for eel and conch.
Long Island fisheries and the Long Island Farm Bureau have asked the governor not to sign the bill as written, saying efforts in recent years to sustain the species — including limiting the annual total harvest of horseshoe crabs to 150,000 — need a chance to make a difference. They say the legislation is based on emotion rather than science.
“If [the agencies] felt that the horseshoe crab stock was in danger, we would hear about it first,” said Bonnie Brady, executive director of Montauk-based Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, in a previous conversation with TBR [“The bill has passed in Albany, but awaits governor’s signature,” Sept. 20, 2024]. “To use a law to regulate a fishery, when they are already regulated by appropriate bodies that have the science to back it, is just not the way to allow fisheries to survive.”
Goodall specifically addressed preventing the biomedical uses of horseshoe crabs’ blue blood and asserted that synthetic alternatives mean harvesting the animals is not as necessary for research and vaccine development.
In her letter to Hochul, she appealed to a “shared sense of responsibility” for the natural world.
“I have devoted my life to preserving the planet,” Goodall wrote. “I hope together, we can make a lasting difference in this important corner of the world.”
Welcome to the 36th edition of Paw Prints, a monthly column for animal lovers dedicated to helping shelter pets find their furever home.
Prev
