The Smithtown Animal Shelter is working toward a 100 percent adoption rate. File photo
The ongoing efforts to make Smithtown’s local animal shelter the best in Suffolk County continued this week when town officials announced a new partnership with another shelter.
The Smithtown Animal Shelter is partnering with The South Hampton Animal Shelter Foundation to offer low-cost spay and neuter services to the town’s community of pets.
Residents interested in participating can call 631-566-8870 to schedule appointments.
Town Councilwoman Lynne Nowick (R) signed on as the shelter’s government liaison in February and has since been working toward achieveing what she called one of her top priorities in making the Smithtown shelter reach a 100 percent adoption rate. She formed an advisory panel of animal experts soon after to help usher in change at the shelter.
The memorial park on Port Jefferson Harbor was fluffier than usual on Saturday, during Save-A-Pet Animal Rescue and Adoption Center’s annual Hounds on the Sound event. Tails were wagging and tongues were licking at the event until rain started to fall.
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Lacey, a pink poodle from Port Jefferson, has a fun time at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
Patrick Mango, a 7-month-old Selden resident, visits with Persy at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
Animals were up for adoption at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson 2015. Photo by Bob Savage
Lisa and Leo Demino are all smiles with Ellie, a dog from Last Chance Animal Rescue, at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
Vendors sell dog products at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
Melissa Lynch, of Nesconset, hangs out with foster dog Kelly at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
Harley and Indy pant it up with Coram's Michelle Martens and Selden's Will Zeidler at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
Ladies look at dogs up for adoption at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
A woman talks with her dog at a vendor's tent at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
Karen and Ken Johnson, Setauket residents, chill with Tucker at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
Alanna Becker from Shoreham hugs rescue puppy Ebony at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
Miller Place's Kristen Corbett poses with Red, from the Special Needs Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation, at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20. Photo by Bob Savage
A vendor's table at Save-A-Pet's Hounds on the Sound event in Port Jefferson on June 20 is full of dogs. Photo by Bob Savage
The Huntington Animal Hospital, located on Walt Whitman Road in Huntington Station, is celebrating 63 years. Photo from Dr. Jeff Kramer
A four-year-old boy’s dream of being a veterinarian and following in his father’s footsteps has led to decades of business success.
The Huntington Animal Hospital is celebrating 63 years of business, and owner Dr. Jeff Kramer, who is living his lifelong passion, plans to mark the milestone with a special client appreciation day on June 6.
From the time Kramer, 61, was brought home as a baby from the hospital to his bedroom, which now serves as the exam room in Huntington Animal Hospital on Walt Whitman Road, he has been surrounded animals and the veterinary office.
“Growing up all I was ever going to do was be a veterinarian,” Kramer said in a recent interview. “I was always going to be a vet, there was never any other options.”
The animal hospital that Kramer owns once served as his childhood home and his father Mort Kramer’s veterinary office, which is where he got first-hand experience working in the field. The younger Kramer would hold animals, clean cages and observe as his father performing daily duties. Every free second he had was spent working with his dad, Kramer said.
“I’ve worked in this animal hospital since I was a little boy,” Kramer said. “I skipped Saturday morning cartoons and came here.”
Huntington Animal Hospital’s Dr. Jeff Kramer is hard at work doing what he does best — helping animals. Photo from Kramer
Kramer attended Johns Hopkins University and then went on to attend veterinarian school at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, where he worked hard to fulfill his dream of becoming a vet.
After graduating from veterinary school, Kramer spent time living in Virginia and working at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. He then returned to Huntington Station where he teamed up with his dad and worked at the family’s animal hospital. Once his dad retired, Kramer took over the business and has been operating it ever since.
“It has been an all-around wonderful experience, giving back to people and providing the animals and people with care and help,” Kramer said.
In the past Kramer has treated ferrets, guinea pigs and hamsters, but the practice now treats cats and dogs. Kramer said the staff would treat other animals if they came in.
While he loves treating dogs and cats, he said a big part of his job is treating their owners and helping them cope through difficult times. Through his more than 30 years running the practice, he said he has seen some sad cases that are just part of the job.
“It’s hard to see a dog and cat that has been hit by a car,” Kramer said.
The veterinarian said his job is very rewarding and he loves helping animals and owners. He said he loves giving back and providing animals with the care they need.
“It’s a wonderful profession,” he said. “I’m very very lucky to be a veterinarian. I’m one of the family doctors, that’s my favorite part.”
Sal Migliore, an owner of four cats, visits Kramer regularly and has been for the last three years. He called the veterinarian a good person who is very caring with animals.
“He is our Dr. Doolittle,” Migliore said. “He is a doctor for animals. We don’t know what we would do without him, we have so much faith in him.”
Next week, at the June 6 client appreciation day, people will get to meet a dog trainer, groomer along with Kramer and his team. Attendees will also be able to enjoy snacks and drinks, Kramer said.
“It’s really saying thank you to our Huntington Animal Hospital family,” Kramer said.
The pups at Comsewogue Public Library’s inaugural Pet Adoption Fair couldn’t stop wagging their tails on April 25. Community members came out to pet their soft fur and get some kisses on a beautiful spring Saturday.
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Belle and Harry, therapy dogs from Patchogue Rotary Animal Assisted Therapy, pose for a picture. Photo by Erika Karp
Natalie, 2, and Eva Grasso, of Miller Place, meet Daisy, a rescue dog from Last Chance Animal Rescue. Photo by Erika Karp
Lilly, 4, was rescued from a kill shelter in South Carolina by Last Chance Animal Rescue. Photo by Erika Karp
Mount Sinai resident Danielle Bruni, a Save-A-Pet Animal Rescue volunteer, plays with 3-month-old Stanley. Photo by Erika Karp
Charlotte, a coonhound from Last Chance Animal Rescue, enjoys the sunshine. Photo by Erika Karp
In our previous article we discussed predisposing factors to obesity such as breed, spay/neuter status, age and underlying disease. This article will focus on a brief overview of tackling the obesity problem. The short answer here is there is no magic bullet for weight loss, but rather the same answer there is for humans: diet and exercise. With that said let’s take a closer look at that and give some more specific recommendations.
Diet: In a veterinary article I recently read, management of obesity in dogs and cats is as easy as following the three A’s: awareness, accurate accounting and assessment.
Awareness refers not only to coming to terms with obesity in your pet but also certain risks as well (breed, spay/neuter status, etc.). How does one identify obesity in a pet? Usually it’s a vet (the bad guy) that hints at the fact that Spike has gotten a little husky or Fifi a little fluffy. However, you can actually assess your own pet at home. Just go online and look up “Body Conditioning Score,” or “BCS” for short. If, after reviewing information online you are still unsure, I would recommend scheduling an appointment to consult with your veterinarian.
Accurate accounting may be the hardest thing (for us as pet owners) to face. Food can be an act of bonding not only with other people but also with our pets. We had one pet owner at our clinic with an obese dog she swore was only getting its food and no extra snacks or table food. After a bit of investigation I found out that the owner loved to cook and the dog was the “official taster” for every meal. No table food meant no food directly from the table. This was a smart woman, but she felt that the dog would no longer love her if she took this bonding moment away. Unfortunately, this also meant the dog would soon have to be rolled into the clinic and not walk in under its own power.
To make life a little easier, there is a way to actually calculate calorie requirements by using a calculation called the Resting Energy Requirements, or RER for short. The RER is a starting point, and then in conjunction with your veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist you can calculate how much food to give at each meal. After accurately calculating how much food your dog needs for the whole day, you can break that up into as many meals as you’d like. It has been found that it is more effective to feed at least two and up to four smaller meals a day to lose weight than to free feed (fill up the bowl).
Treats also have calories and should not exceed 10 percent of the diet. There are now low-calorie treats available both commercially and as prescription low-calorie treats through your veterinarian.
Lastly, in terms of assessment, it is important to either weigh your pet at home or bring your pet to your veterinarian’s office for a weight (this helps with consistency especially for larger pets). We encourage pet owners with obese pets trying to lose weight to bring their pets in (at no charge) to be weighed.
Exercise: Exercise is key to good health for many reasons: It helps to maintain and strengthen muscle, it promotes cardiovascular health, it provides mental stimulation, and it increases energy expenditure and fat oxidation.
Obese dogs should be given low-impact cardiovascular exercise (a longer walk or swimming rather than chasing a ball) to avoid heat stroke or injury.
Obese indoor-only cats should have their play geared toward outdoor hunting and playing behaviors (climbing, balancing, scratching). Toys work well for some cats, while others prefer cat trees or play stations. Interactive toys with the owner are best (especially for single-cat households) to lose weight, as well as promote bonding with the owner.
I hope that this series of articles will help to make our pets the healthiest and happiest pets ever this summer.
Councilwoman Lynne Nowick is the town board liaison to the Smithtown Animal Shelter. File photo
Their calls for change helped spark the formation of an expert-led animal shelter advisory board, but Smithtown residents still said they felt excluded from the process.
Several residents have flanked each town board meeting over the last several months with aggressive calls for change at the Smithtown Animal Shelter. In response, Town Councilwoman Lynne Nowick (R) announced a new advisory board back in February, soon after taking on the shelter liaison role from Councilman Bob Creighton (R), which included the shelter’s 30-year Director George Beatty, animal welfare experts Lucille DeFina and Diane Madden, and animal welfare attorney Elizabeth Stein. But residents still confronted Nowick at last Thursday’s town board meeting demanding answers as to why there was no Smithtown-based spokesperson involved.
Angela Cano, a Smithtown resident, was only one of several residents to call on Nowick to give Smithtown natives a seat at the advisory table to help shape the shelter’s future. She thanked Nowick for assembling the board, but spoke as a member of a Smithtown mothers’ Facebook group in saying she and her neighbors felt shut out of the process.
“They feel very strongly that while we are thankful for the women on the advisory board, we feel at least one resident should be more involved in what is going on in the shelter,” she said. “There are thousands of people backing that up.”
Nowick defended the advisory board and said they were already making great strides toward addressing accusations and concerns over animal neglect and institutional failure under Beatty’s watch.
“There is a Smithtown resident on the board,” Nowick said, causing a brief moment of confusion throughout the room. “I am a lifetime resident of Smithtown. I believe I have an advisory board that is working.”
Nowick said the board was looking to meet every two weeks until tangible changes are enacted, and each step of the decision-making process would be done publicly.
Liz Downey, a volunteer Humane Society district leader in the state’s 1st Congressional District, defended the advisory group as proof that Smithtown and its elected leaders were serious about shelter reform. She asked the residents of the community to embrace the board and stand behind Nowick rather than challenge her.
“The Smithtown Animal Shelter has already taken the unprecedented step of appointing an advisory council comprised of known animal advocates,” she said. “This is a step that other shelters do not take, proving that the Smithtown Animal Shelter is serious about making changes. Now is the time for advocates who brought the issue to light to roll up their sleeves and work with the council as it reviews, recommends and institutes a plan that better serves the animal[s] moving forward.”
Town Councilman Tom McCarthy (R) also stood behind his colleague and said the town was doing whatever it needed to do to make sure the shelter stepped up its game to the satisfaction of its own animal advocates.
“Everyone on this board is committed to make it a state-of-the-art, best animal shelter on Long Island,” he said.
Currently, Nowick said the town’s Parks Department was working with the town board and Supervisor Patrick Vecchio (R) to help shelter volunteers keep the space clean. She also said any residents who felt they were being disenfranchised from the process could give her office a call at any time to brainstorm potential ideas, or check in on the progress of her advisory board.
“When the board was formed, I didn’t say, ‘Where do you live?’” Nowick said. “I said, ‘What is your background?’ I have faith in the board. They’re doing the job.”
Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta with his dog Buddy. Photo from Susan Eckert
By Jenni Culkin
Suffolk County Legislator Robert Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) will be holding a food drive for pet food in his office from now until Thursday, April 30.
Donations will be accepted during the normal business hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the normal business days of Monday through Friday.
The drive is going to bring pet food to the Harry Chapin Food Bank so that those who are assisted by the food bank can feed their pets as well as themselves.
Trotta also said he believes that pets can be an extremely important part of people’s lives, especially when they’re down on their luck.
“Pets keep many people going, giving them comfort and a reason to survive in difficult times,” said Trotta.
Trotta himself has a dog named Buddy.
The office is currently accepting donations of canned and dry cat or dog food, dog treats, birdseed, fish food, kitty litter and small toys that are unused.
According to Long Island Cares, the organization that runs the food bank, dog and cat food are items with high demand because the costs of heating a home, buying medications, paying the bills, and putting food on the table prevent some people with financial hardships from properly caring for their pets without assistance.
Long Island Cares has been providing pet food for its clients since 2009. There is hope that the people of Suffolk County can continue the pet food donation trend well into this frigid winter over five years later.
Donations can be dropped off at 59 Landing Ave. in Smithtown throughout the duration of the drive, Trotta said.
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