‘Hey , horsefly, I’m a dog, not a horse!’
Jay Gao captured this awesome photo of a dog encountering an unwelcome guest while taking a dip at Sand Street Beach in his hometown of Stony Brook on the evening of Aug. 6 with a Nikon D5500 camera.
‘Hey , horsefly, I’m a dog, not a horse!’
Jay Gao captured this awesome photo of a dog encountering an unwelcome guest while taking a dip at Sand Street Beach in his hometown of Stony Brook on the evening of Aug. 6 with a Nikon D5500 camera.
MEET NICO!
This week’s shelter pet is Nico, an adorable 6-year-old Chihuahua mix currently waiting to be adopted at Kent Animal Shelter. Nico was brought to the shelter by his family because they were no longer able to keep him.
Nico is a little sweetie and just loves to be with people but is choosy about what dogs he likes to spend time with. Come on down and meet Nico. He’s sure to warm your heart!
Nico comes neutered, microchipped and is up to date on all his vaccines.
Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on Nico and other adoptable pets at Kent, call 631-727-5731 or visit www.kentanimalshelter.com.
Update: Sully has been adopted!
MEET SULLY!
This week’s shelter pet is Sully, a 5-year-old tabby cat. Sully is the sweetest boy and loves to be with people. He had a home for most of his life, however, recently his owners opened their front door, let Sully out and never let him back into the house.
He was homeless and living on the streets for about 3 to 4 months before a Kent volunteer who lives on that same street started feeding and caring for him. The volunteer was not able to take the cat in himself, so he brought him to the shelter for adoption. Won’t you come and spend some time with Sully? We dare you not to fall in love!
Sully comes neutered, microchipped and is up to date on all his vaccines.
Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on Sully and other adoptable pets at Kent, call 631-727-5731 or visit www.kentanimalshelter.com.
The Suffolk County Kennel Club hosted the 12th annual AKC Canine Experience on the grounds of the Smithtown Historical Society on Aug. 3. The event featured a day of activities for dogs and their owners including competitions in conformation, obedience and rally, plus agility demonstrations and run-thru’s.
Judges Toby Frisch and Samantha Keeler were tasked with choosing the top three winners of the day. Cooper, an Akita owned by Steve Lisker of East Rockaway, captured the Best Puppy in Match title; and River, an English Springer Spaniel owned by Tracey Monahan of Kings Park, won for Best Adult in Match. Holly, a long coat Chihuahua owned by Kerri Kimpel of Smithtown, captured the titled of Best in All Breed Sweeps in Match.
Attendees were also able to test their dogs for Canine Good Citizen titles, attended handling classes and received grooming tips. Join the group for its annual AKC Point Show at that same site on Sept. 28 with over 700 dogs participating. For additional information, visit www.suffolkcountykennelclub.org.
Photos by Heidi Sutton
Update: Odie has been adopted!
MEET ODIE!
This week’s shelter pet is Odie, a 3-year-old Jack Russel terrier/poodle mix, currently waiting at Kent Animal Shelter for his furever home. Odie is an awesome little dog, weighing in at just 14 pounds. A rescue from Georgia, this little guy loves going for walks and would be a great addition to any family. Come on down and meet him!
Odie comes neutered, microchipped and is up to date on all his vaccines.
Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on Odie and other adoptable pets at Kent, call 631-727-5731 or visit www.kentanimalshelter.com.
Photo courtesy of Kent Animal Shelter
By Melissa Arnold
Two years ago, a peaceful walk down by the water in Port Jefferson brought 15 seconds of fame to injury attorney Mark Freeley and his English golden retriever, Storm.
You might have read an article about Freeley and Storm in the New York Times or People magazine, or maybe you’re one of more than 20 million people who saw the pair’s dramatic viral video online.
Storm made a splash in 2017 when he spotted a fawn struggling to stay afloat in the waters of Port Jefferson Harbor.
Freeley, who lives in Stony Brook, walks at least five miles each day with the retriever and his younger adopted “sister,” Sarah, a mixed breed. On a steamy July morning, they headed to Harborfront Park and Centennial Park in Port Jefferson where they spent time walking along the shore and then started heading to Pirate’s Cove. Suddenly, Storm, who was off-leash, made a beeline into the water.
Storm is well-disciplined and rarely takes off so suddenly, said Freeley, 55. He recalled being puzzled by his dog’s behavior at the time.
“Storm never brings anything back to me, not even a tennis ball. So it was weird to see him run off into the water,” he joked. “I grabbed my camera and wanted to see what he was doing, and then I noticed an animal’s head bobbing in and out of the water. Storm hesitated for a minute and looked back at me like, ‘What do I do now, Dad?’ I tried to encourage him and keep him calm.”
Storm swam roughly 100 feet from shore and tenderly grabbed the fawn by the scruff of its neck before bringing it back to dry land. Freeley’s video captures the stunning rescue as he continually cheers, “Good boy, Storm! Bring it in!”
When he reached the shore, Storm nervously let go of the fawn, which ran only a few paces before collapsing with apparent exhaustion. The video ends as Storm gently paws and nudges the animal with his nose in an attempt to revive it.
Many people are unaware of what happened next: Freeley took a close-up video of the male deer and attempted to send it to Frank Floridia at Strong Island Animal Rescue League in Port Jefferson Station, but spotty cell service hindered the call for help. Freeley had no choice but to leave the exhausted animal behind and head back toward the village.
Once Freeley picked up a cell signal, he was able to send the video to Floridia. Together with co-owner Erica Kutzing, Strong Island responds to calls involving injured and abused animals in emergency situations. They’ve rescued dogs, cats, possums, deer and a variety of other animals, sometimes performing several rescues in a day.
Floridia met Freeley in the village, and the pair headed back toward the cove. The trip takes around 20 minutes on foot and is full of slippery, rocky terrain. Kutzing drove to nearby Belle Terre, which provides faster access to the cove.
It wouldn’t be an easy task.
“We went back to the spot where the deer was left, but he got spooked when he heard us coming and actually ran back into the water again,” Floridia said. “We tried to get Storm to retrieve him a second time, but he wouldn’t go, and the deer became distressed — he was probably 100 feet out at least. I knew we either had to go get him or he was going to die.”
Floridia and Freeley waded out into the water, flanking the deer on each side. They attempted to reach for him, but he continued to avoid them. Finally, he grew tired and Floridia was able to secure the fawn with a rope, bringing it to shore.
Their initial assessment found that the fawn had cuts and scrapes, was infested with ticks and severely dehydrated. Kutzing took the animal to STAR Foundation in Middle Island, where he was promptly named Water and underwent rehabilitation for several months. He was ultimately released back into the wild with a clean bill of health.
“We think he must have come down the cliff in that area, and there was really nowhere else for him to go. He had no choice but to swim,” Floridia explained. “Deer are good swimmers, but this fawn was only a few weeks old. He was so exhausted that he didn’t even put up a fight.”
Storm’s brave rescue graced local and national headlines for several weeks. But Freeley wasn’t ready for their story to end.
In his spare time, Freeley and his family volunteer with Last Chance Animal Rescue based in Southampton. The 501(c)3 charitable organization rescues animals from high-kill shelters in the Carolinas and Georgia on a weekly basis. Upon arrival on Long Island, the animals spend a week with volunteer foster families before being adopted by their new owners.
“Mark came to us as a volunteer leading adoption events and also offering us pro bono legal support. Once Storm had a following, people would come out to events just to see him and take pictures with him,” said Judith Langmaid, director of adoption for Last Chance Animal Rescue.
“We couldn’t believe it when the video blew up. We thought it was crazy, but it was so exciting. As it got traction, Mark wanted to do anything he could to promote Last Chance and animal rescue in general. He said, ‘If I can use this for good, I want to do it.’ He’s genuine and dependable. We’re so grateful to have him,” she added.
Freeley began to use Storm’s Facebook page, called Good Boy Storm, to promote Last Chance events and animals in need of adoption. “I saw this as an opportunity to raise awareness for other animals fighting for their lives in kill shelters,” he said. The page has helped connect many animals with forever homes.
“There are very few things in life that you can watch make an immediate difference like this. To see a family come in and adopt an animal that would have been euthanized is a great feeling,” Freeley said.
To learn more about Mark Freeley and Storm, search for Good Boy Storm on Facebook. To learn more about animal rescue efforts in our area or to adopt, visit www.lcarescue.org or call 631-478-6844. Strong Island Animal Rescue League can be reached at 631-403-0598.
Photos from Mark Freeley and Frank Floridia
Update: Helios has been adopted!
MEET HELIOS!
This week’s shelter pet is Helios, a 6-month-old potcake rescued from the Bahamas.
This ray of sunshine is a fun little fella who would love nothing more than to have a home of his own. He loves to go for walks with our volunteers, and enjoys being petted and loved on!
He’s just an all around nice little dog, weighing approximately 27 pounds; however, he still has a little bit of growing to do. This sweet boy comes neutered, microchipped and is up to date on all his vaccines.
Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on Helios and other adoptable pets at Kent, call 631-727-5731 or visit www.kentanimalshelter.com.
MEET ABNER!
This week’s shelter pet is Abner, a 1-year-old Basenji mix rescued from the meat trade in Thailand and now safe at Kent Animal Shelter.
Abner is a mellow guy. He absolutely loves people, is housebroken and looks forward to going on his walks with the volunteers. Why not come on down and take Abner for a walk?
This sweet boy comes neutered, microchipped and is up to date on all his vaccines.
Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on Abner and other adoptable pets at Kent, call 631-727-5731 or visit www.kentanimalshelter.com.
Photo from Kent Animal Shelter
Willy, a 1½-year-old gray and white kitty was brought to Kent Animal Shelter to be neutered by a woman who was feeding him as a stray. One of Willy’s eyes was damaged from an infection that went untreated while he was living outside and had to be removed. He’s all healed now and is ready for the next chapter in his life. He loves to play and is an all around awesome cat! Won’t you open your heart to this very special guy?
Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on Willy and other adoptable pets at Kent, call 631-727-5731 or visit www.kentanimalshelter.com.
By Matthew Kearns, DVM
This second of a two-part series continues to discuss if vaccines are necessary for your pet and, if so, how often. The first article, from June 18, gave a brief overview of the immune system and how vaccines work. In this article I hope to more specifically address which vaccines are necessary and why.
There are certain core vaccines that are recommended or required. Core vaccines protect against diseases that are so prevalent in the environment that your pet is at risk for exposure even if they do not go outside or are legally required by the county and state. Noncore, or “at risk,” vaccines vary from pet to pet depending on where they go and interactions with other pets or wildlife.
We also take into account multipet households where some pets venture outside and are in contact with indoor-only pets. Certain vaccines are required on a regular basis by boarding facilities, groomers, doggy day care and group obedience classes. Be sure to let your veterinarian know if your pet participates in any of these activities.
Can too many vaccines hurt your pet? The answer to that question is, “Not if not given all at once.” Two large studies (one involved over a million dogs and the other involved almost 500,000 cats) focused on what are termed vaccine-associated adverse events (VAAE). VAAE refers to serious, even life-threatening vaccine reactions.
VAAEs are rare (less than 1 percent) and neither the number of vaccines a pet receives throughout its life nor any particular type of vaccine increases that risk. What the study did find was the risk of a VAAE increased significantly in patients under 22 pounds when they were given multiple vaccines at the same visit. The take home of these studies was we can vaccinate our pets for whatever they are at risk for as long as we don’t treat a Chihuahua like a Great Dane. Stagger the vaccines by a week to a few weeks in smaller patients.
Is your pet ever too old for vaccines? Age never plays a role in vaccinating but underlying disease does. If your pet has developed any organ dysfunction, glandular diseases or cancer, talk to your veterinarian about vaccinations. Vaccinating pets with underlying disease is contraindicated (a no-no). Not only won’t these pets use the vaccines to their advantage, but this is also an added stress they do not need. However, if you have a healthy, older pet, they should receive any vaccines against any infections they are still at risk for exposure to regardless of age.
Are there alternatives to vaccinating annually? There are certain vaccines that need to be given annually to be effective. For other vaccines, yes, there are alternatives. One alternative is to ask your veterinarian to run antibody titers instead. As discussed in the first article there are blood tests to measure the effectiveness of one component of the immune system, the humoral component.
The other alternative is to use vaccines that are approved for longer than one year. Just remember that Suffolk County does not recognize the difference between a one-year versus a multiyear approved vaccine when it comes to boarding.
I hope this opens the door to a healthy discussion with your veterinarian at your next visit.
One last thing: Even if you do not vaccinate your pet every year, I still recommend an annual checkup or exam. It is true that one human year equals about seven dog years and about five and a half to six cat years.
Dr. Kearns practices veterinary medicine from his Port Jefferson office and is pictured with his son Matthew and his dog Jasmine. Have a question for the vet? Email it to [email protected] to see his answer in an upcoming column.