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David Ceely

By Serena Carpino

For the first time since 2019, the Huntington-based Little Shelter Animal Rescue and Adoption Center held its Pet-A-Palooza event on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 19 and 20.

This fundraising and adoption event promotes the nonprofit organization, whose staff members and volunteers rescue and find homes for cats and dogs. The shelter was created in 1927 as the first humane animal shelter on Long Island and recently celebrated its 96th anniversary. 

One of Little Shelter’s goals is to reduce euthanasia rates. As a private, nonprofit and no-kill shelter, Little Shelter can rescue animals from government-owned facilities that may be forced to euthanize their animals. The shelter receives animals from around the country. “I’m sure we’re gonna get some [animals] from Hawaii,” because of the recent wildfires, said shelter volunteer Terry Warwick. 

Another aspect of its mission is to end overpopulation through its 100% spay/neuter program. A veterinarian on staff at Little Shelter can perform this procedure, and the shelter is also partnered with several veterinary clinics on Long Island to assist with the program. 

By holding several events throughout the year, staff and volunteers of the shelter can showcase the animals for those interested in adopting. In particular, the Pet-A-Palooza has been successful in guaranteeing adoptions. 

By Saturday morning, there were already eight dogs on hold for adoption and “usually by the end of the weekend, [we hope] to get 75 animals” adopted, said David Ceely, the executive director of Little Shelter. 

Pet-A -Palooza is not only an opportunity for many animals to be adopted. It gives people insight into the shelter’s operations. According to Ceely, “a lot of adopters that come in here and people that come in for our raffles … their word of mouth is extremely helpful because they’ll come in and say, ‘Oh look at this wonderful dog or this wonderful cat that I adopted’” and “it really helps … to get the word out about Little Shelter.”

If a dog is not adoptable for various reasons, it can be sent to the Little Shelter Sanctuary in upstate New York. “What separates us from the other shelters … is that we’ve got our sanctuary upstate, which has homelike settings,” Ceely noted. “All of the dogs have their own rooms.”

At the 110-acre sanctuary, all of the dogs also have their own televisions, couches and more. 

Little Shelter has also partnered with several groups that focus on specific types of animals. One such organization is Parker’s House, whose employees and volunteers raise awareness about the dangers of merle-to-merle breeding.

“Merle is a coat color,” Kimberly Mockley, an employee at Parker’s House, explained. There’s “blue merle, which has the gray, white and black mix. There’s also red merle, which is like copper and tan mixing,” adding that when “you breed a male and a female merle-to-merle, 25% [of their offspring] are born mostly white, deaf and blind.”

Parker’s House has held adoption events, but is currently focused on educating the public. 

Representatives from the Town of Huntington Cat Shelter, operated by Little Shelter, were also at the event to showcase many of their cats up for adoption. They are currently caring for around 300 cats. As of Saturday morning, there were already two cats up for adoption, and staff members hoped to have many more adopted by the end of the weekend.

While much of the money from the Pet-A-Palooza will go to supplies for the animals, some of it will also go toward remodeling the shelter’s buildings.

“We’re planning to do a big renovation within the next few years, and we just started to mount a capital campaign,” Ceely said. “This facility will be completely torn down and rebuilt.”

The shelter has been working out of the same buildings since 1927, and staff members want to make it more environmentally and functionally friendly. “We’ve got big plans,” Ceely said.

Left, David Ceely, executive director of the Huntington-based Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center. Right, John Di Leonardo, anthrozoologist and executive director of Humane Long Island. Left photo from Ceely; right from Di Leonardo

Animal shelters pose increasing challenges to shelter staff, policymakers and community members.

With limited budgets and staffing shortages, local shelters are becoming increasingly overwhelmed. In the face of these pressures, animal caregivers throughout the area are working to adapt to these circumstances.

Trends on the ground

David Ceely is the executive director of Huntington-based Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center, a nonprofit organization coordinating with and rescuing from municipal shelters throughout Long Island.

‘I think all shelters are very overwhelmed.’

— David Ceely

In an interview, Ceely highlighted the fundamental differences between nonprofit and municipal shelters, noting variations in financial structure and rules. Based on recent experiences on the ground, Ceely indicated that the number of animals admitted to shelters has generally increased since the pandemic.

“When we go out to these other shelters on Long Island, [New York] City and even across the country, we’re definitely seeing an influx of animals turned into shelters,” he said.

John Di Leonardo is an anthrozoologist and executive director of Humane Long Island. This nonprofit animal advocacy organization also specializes in nontraditional shelter animals such as chickens, turkeys and ducks.

Di Leonardo reported that the general trends “have remained pretty similar” from prior years. However, there has been “immense progress” in some areas. 

He cited recent state legislation barring the sale of kittens, puppies and rabbits in pet stores, suggesting that these trends signal progress for animal rescuers.

“Once that bill does take effect, and stores will only be able to sell rescued animals, I think that a huge burden will be lifted off of shelters in our area,” he said. “But until then, I think all shelters are very overwhelmed.” 

Contrasts in shelters

“Our job is to go out to the municipalities,” Ceely said. “They’re funded by government, and they have a different set of rules than we do, where if they run out of space, they may have to euthanize.”

He added, “Little Shelter doesn’t do that. … We don’t euthanize for space, and some of the municipalities may have to.”

Along with these differences in financial and administrative structures, Ceely suggested that the municipal and nonprofit shelters often further depart in their hiring and training practices.

“Unfortunately, with the town shelters, they don’t necessarily have a full-on training program for the directors that go in place there,” Ceely said. “They have to try to figure it out as they go, which gets really demanding, so I see a lot of turnover there.”

He added that the lack of training and turnover at a municipal shelter can lead to “concerned citizens.”

Di Leonardo added to this sentiment, noting the differences in qualification for shelter management positions at municipal and nonprofit shelters.

“A lot of times in municipal shelters, the positions may be union-based, or they may be patronage positions mixed in with a lot of people who actually have the animals’ interests at heart,” he said.

Despite some of the perceived downsides to the municipal hiring structure, Di Leonardo maintained that privatization presents a host of new challenges, such as closed admissions policies.

“When these shelters are privatized, they often become closed admission, which is a problem,” he said. “When you’re closed admission, you have to pick and choose which animals you take, whereas municipal shelters are typically open, and they have to take whatever animal comes to their door.”

Possible solutions

Di Leonardo outlined some steps locals can take to reduce the burden upon local animal shelters. He said the process can start with reorienting thinking around the sanctity of animal life.

‘Our animal care as a whole and our sheltering system is definitely a reflection of the values in a community.’

— John Di Leonardo

“Before surrendering an animal to a shelter, everyone should always make sure that they are exhausting every possible outcome to make sure they’re treating that animal like a family member and not just as a disposable birthday present,” he said. “Before anyone does get an animal for a holiday or a gift, they need to remember animals are not props.”

Ceely maintained that outreach initiatives could help alleviate pressures on both the municipal and nonprofit animal shelters on Long Island.

“Probably the best way [to enhance services] is to work on a lot of outreach to get the word out on social media and through word of mouth,” he said. “But also to have plenty of events at the facilities to try to promote adoptions.”

He added that lowering or eliminating the adoption fees for qualified adopters is “also a good idea.” In addition to these remedies, Ceely suggested a shift in focus among local officials and greater initiative by those directing the municipal shelters.

“There are a lot of other areas in the municipalities that are prioritized before the animals are,” the Little Shelter executive director said. “Oftentimes, if the animal shelter directors themselves are not speaking up, they might not get the attention or the funding that they deserve to run their shelters the right way.”

Ceely said residents can assist their local shelters by donating, volunteering, fostering and — above all — adopting.

“Most importantly, they can adopt — getting the animals into homes so that we can go out and rescue more,” he said.

For Di Leonardo, a community’s animal shelter system reflects its values. He recited a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, who once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

“Our animal care as a whole and our sheltering system is definitely a reflection of the values in a community,” the Humane Long Island executive director noted. “How we treat them and care for those who have the least rights in our community is a reflection on ourselves.”

Muppet

Old dogs have something to wag about this summer, as The Grey Muzzle Organization announces the recipients of its annual grants, and dogs at Little Shelter Animal Rescue and Adoption Center in Huntington are among the winners.

Little Shelter is one of 77 animal welfare groups chosen from 266 applicants to receive a grant to help local senior dogs.  The winning groups received more than $616,000 in grants to help save or improve the lives of at-risk old dogs in their communities.

“This grant will help us give senior dogs like 13-year-old Muppet the veterinary and dental care he needs so he’ll be ready to go to his forever home,” said David Ceely of Little Shelter. “No one is more grateful or loving than an old dog, and we’re looking forward to helping more senior dogs get the second chance they all deserve.”

Over the past 13 years, the national nonprofit Grey Muzzle Organization has provided $3.1 million in grants to support its vision of “a world where no old dog dies alone and afraid.”

“Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we’re delighted to help deserving organizations like Little Shelter make a difference in the lives of dogs and people in their communities,” Grey Muzzle’s Executive Director Lisa Lunghofer said. “Many senior dogs on Long Island are enjoying their golden years in loving homes thanks to the wonderful work of Little Shelter.”

Little Shelter is a non-profit no-kill animal shelter located at33 Warner Road in Huntington and has been dedicated to saving abandoned dogs and cats and placing them in loving homes since 1927. Age, physical condition, and socialization issues are never criteria for rescuing a dog or cat whose life is in jeopardy.https://www.littleshelter.org/

The national nonprofit The Grey Muzzle Organization improves the lives of at-risk senior dogs by providing funding and resources to animal shelters, rescue organizations, sanctuaries, and other nonprofit groups nationwide. For details, please visit https://www.greymuzzle.org/

For more information, please visit https://www.littleshelter.org/ or call 631-368-8770 x 21

 

Huntington town officials will hold a public hearing on the future of Grateful Paw Cat Shelter Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. File photo

Huntington town officials are weighing the pros and cons of a change of leadership at Grateful Paw Cat Shelter, but some volunteers fear their minds are already made up.

The town board voted 4-1 to schedule a public hearing on Little Shelter Animal Rescue taking over operation of the town-owned cat shelter for Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. at town hall.

Little Shelter was one of two organizations who responded to the Oct. 3 town’s request for proposals (RFP) by those looking to operate the shelter. The RFP is for a five-year contract to operate the cat shelter starting January 2018, undertaking the responsibilities of taking in and caring for any stray and displaced cats; emergency pickup of stray cats in the town; operating a trap, neuter and release program for feral cats; and facilitating cat adoptions by residents.

David Ceely, executive director of Little Shelter, believes his nonprofit’s experience as an independent no-kill shelter makes the company qualified for the job.

“We handle a lot of the emergencies, particularly the cat emergencies in Huntington already,” he said. “We think that facility has so much more potential. We would like to maximize the potential that facility has and represent the Town of Huntington.”

While Little Shelter has never had a formal business agreement with the town, according to Ceely, the nonprofit has informally worked to pull dogs from its town shelter to alleviate overcrowding and help prevent euthanasia due to lack of space.

The other application was submitted Nov. 3 by League of Animal Protection of Huntington, according to its president Debbie Larkin, who has run the nonprofit shelter for more than 40 years.

“I’d like to hope every council member and the departing supervisor had the chance to read through the proposals carefully,” Larkin said. “I hope that this response to the RFP was not an exercise in futility for us and their minds were already made up.”

The two responses were reviewed by a five-person panel comprised of representatives from the town attorney’s office and Department of Public Safety, according to town spokesman A.J.Carter. The applications were evaluated based on criteria outlined in the RFP: proof of not-for-profit 501(c)(3) status in good standing; sufficient employees/volunteers to operate the facility; plans for emergency cat pickup; adoption applicant criteria; breakdown of medical services provided for adopted cats; and submission of the past two years of shelter records and IRS 990 tax filings showing a not-for-profit status. Based on these criteria, the panel found Little Shelter to be the “successful, responsive and responsible proposer.”

Councilwoman Tracey Edwards (R) was the only board member who voted against scheduling a public hearing on Little Shelter taking control of the cat shelter come January. Edwards said she is in favor of the town signing a contract with LAP.

“We were going to award the contract before to the [League of Animal Protection],” she said. “Now that they got their 501(c)(3) status back retroactively, I think it would have only been fair to give it back to them.”

Town officials first solicited bids from any organization interested in running the cat shelter earlier this spring, after it came to light in April that the LAP had lost its not-for-profit status with the IRS in 2015 but never notified the town. Huntington Attorney Cindy Mangano said the town became aware of this breach of the contractual agreement when drawing up a new document, as the previous agreement expired in December 2016.

At the June 13 town board meeting, council members voted to give LAP an extension until Nov. 30 to regain its not-for-profit status and halting the current RFP process.

The organization’s attorney and accountant were able to get its 501(c)(3) status reinstated by the IRS within five weeks, according to Larkin, and retroactively applied to the date it was lost.

LAP’s president and several of its volunteers called on town officials to make an executive order to immediately approve the contractual agreement previously drawn up this spring at the Aug. 15 board meeting, which would extend the organization’s operation of the cat shelter.

Instead, Supervisor Frank Petrone (R) insisted the town was legally obligated to move forward with the RFP process, otherwise fearing it could run the risk of another interested party taking them into court over the matter.