This week’s shelter pet is Peggy, an adorable seven-month-old female domestic shorthair who is patiently waiting at the Smithtown Animal Shelter for her furever home. Here’s her story:
Peggy came to the shelter as part of the Trap-Neuter-Release program, and she instantly started looking for affection. Peggy is gentle, and sometimes can be a little shy, but she loves to be loved by people! She’s great with children, and would do well in a home with other feline friends. In the past, Peggy had to deal with a ruptured ear drum, but she has since improved her condition and is now feeling much better and happier. She has learned to come out of her shell recently, and she would love the opportunity to socialize and make new friends! Her perfect home would be a quiet place where she can cuddle, lounge around, and play all day.
*Due to the health risk presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be limited public access to the shelter. If you are interested in meeting Peggy please fill out an adoption application online at www.townofsmithtownanimalshelter.com.
The Smithtown Animal & Adoption Shelter is located at 410 Middle Country Road, Smithtown. For more information, call 631-360-7575.
This week’s shelter pet is Peggy, a six-month-old female domestic shorthair kitty currently waiting to be adopted at the Smithtown Animal Shelter.
Peggy came to the shelter as part of the town’s trap-neuter-release program, and she instantly started looking for affection. Peggy is gentle and shy, but she loves to be loved by people! She’s great with children and would do well in a home with other cats. Peggy unfortunately has a ruptured ear drum that causes her to have a chronic stuffy nose. Her perfect home would be a quiet place where she can cuddle and play all day.
Peggy is up to date on her vaccines and has received a full workup (blood work, feline HIV and leukemia tested, physical exam, etc.) by a board-certified veterinarian. If you are interested in meeting Peggy, please call ahead to schedule an hour to properly interact with her in their Meet and Greet room.
The Smithtown Animal & Adoption Shelter is located at 410 Middle Country Road, Smithtown. Walk-in hours are currently Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sundays by appointment only. For more information, call 631-360-7575.
Education advocates march into the office of state Sen. John Flanagan on Thursday calling for the passage of the New York State Dream Act. Photo by Phil Corso
The Smithtown office of state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) had a line going out the door last week as advocates called on him and his fellow lawmakers to pass the New York State Dream Act before legislative session ended.
Dream Act advocates congregate outside Sen. John Flanagan’s office Thursday in prayer. Photo by Phil Corso
Various faith leaders from congregations across Long Island gathered in prayer outside Flanagan’s office on Thursday with hopes of nudging the recently appointed Senate majority leader to help pass the Dream Act before session ended June 17. The advocates held up signs in protest of the state’s sluggish pace in making the legislation a reality for the nearly 146,000 undocumented immigrants across New York who graduated from public high schools but are unable to access federally-funded financial aid for college.
The bill, which has passed in the Assembly in February by a vote of 87-45, would open up state aid for the students.
Peggy Fort, a retired teacher and social justice chair of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook, stood in the crowd outside Flanagan’s office Thursday and said the state had to act before thousands of up-and-coming immigrant children are locked out of the higher education process.
“Allowing our New York State ‘dreamers’ who are full of courage, creativity and intellect to access funding for higher education is a way of ensuring the future of New York State,” she said. “It makes absolutely no sense to continue this policy of no action. But I think we will be able to turn that around.”
A June 2015 report from the Fiscal Policy Institute found there were 526,000 immigrants living on Long Island, making up 18 percent of the population and 20 percent of the economic output. Of those immigrants, almost 100,000 are undocumented — about half living in Suffolk County and half in Nassau.
Sister Rosalie Carven delivers petitions to state Sen. John Flanagan’s Chief of Staff Ray Bernardo on Thursday. Photo by Phil Corso
Victoria Daza, of workers advocacy group Long Island Jobs with Justice, said Flanagan was an ideal Long Island lawmaker to head up the Dream Act push, as his North Shore district encompasses educational hubs Stony Brook University and Suffolk County Community College. Daza said it was unacceptable that Flanagan has yet to publicly support the legislation in the four years since it was first introduced, leaving students to foot their full college bill with each passing year.
“The Dream Act cannot wait,” she said. “Education is a human right and these kids should not be excluded.”
Flanagan’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Soon after a short prayer vigil outside, the throng of advocates marched into Flanagan’s office along with more than 100 petition signatures. Sister Rosalie Carven, a social justice coordinator with the Sisters of St. Joseph in Brentwood, walked into the office with conviction before handing over the paperwork and asking Flanagan Chief of Staff Ray Bernardo to deliver their message.
“It can’t stop here. Everyone here is an advocate for the passage of this,” she said. “The time is now. The job has to get done. It’s discriminatory to keep kids out of higher education.”
