[Moderator's note: Ilena got permission to reproduce the info below...
I'm not just being unusually lax today! BIG]
Greetings fellow FMLers,
When I went to my dad's tonight after work to pick up my son, he handed me
a letter he had photocopied from the _Rivertowns_Enterprise_, our local
paper. What I read made my blood boil. If you feel the same way, please
write to the folks at the end to help. This is occuring in Westchester
County NY.
It read as follows:
---------------------------
"To the Editor:
Last Wednesday evening my children's pet ferret escaped. Many fruitless
hours of searching with a flashlight, frantic phone calls to neighbors, and
placing countless fliers on nearly every telephone pole in the neighborhood
turned up nothing. Finally a distant neighbor called to say that she had
indeed seen him - he was wearing his pink harness with jingle-bells, and
that the Dobbs Ferry police had picked him up and taken him to the station.
They kept him overnight, and turned him over to Greenburg Animal Control
Officer Earl Price, who was to transport him either to the New Rochelle
Animal Shelter or the Greenburgh Nature Centure. Neither one of these
facilities had any record of receiving our beloved pet. A call to the
Greenburgh Police Department turned up the reason: Officer Price, for some
reasons known only to himself, reports that the animal was "released into
the woods."
This was a domestic animal wearing a collar and bells who would survive
only a couple of hours in the wild. It was obviously a pet, and an Animal
Control officer's job as I've always understood it is to provide care and a
safe environment for lost animals until their heartbroken owners can
reclaim them. Officer Price's thoughtless act condemmed this animal to a
sad, miserable death by exposure, starvation, or the teeth of a predator.
This raises several questions in my mind about who is in charge of the
humane treatment of local stray animals. If this happened once, what else
goes on that residents don't know about? I, for one, want to know that my
family's misfortune is not repeated.
However, my most difficult question is what do I tell my three young
children? As of last night, their lost pet had been miraculously rescued
by the people they've been told to always trust-the police. How do I
explain to them that the police department of Greenburg employs an Animal
Control Officer who could not be bothered to do the job he is paid for -
namely transport a family pet, wearing a collar, to the shelter? How do I
tell them that the pet they've loved so much was destroyed by the heartless
negligence of an Animal Control Officer - someone who is supposed to care.
I don't know what to say.
Jane Wright
Dobbs Ferry
------------------------------------
I spoke with Jane tonight. She does not have email. She was able to find
out *which* woods their pet was released into after several days. (Before
that they only knew it was released 'into the woods', so they went from one
wooded area to another searching and scattering kibble.) Someone had put
her in touch with Joanne Dreeben of Yonkers, who runs the local ferret
shelter. She and Joanne went to the woods Tickles was released into and
after much searching, Joanne found his lifeless body. He was apparently
hit by a car.
As you can imagine, Jane is furious. She told me it's NOT just her pet
this has happened to; she has found out that Earl Price allegedly has a
history of dumping other pets he can't be bothered to transport to the
humane society as well, including dogs and cats.
Please, write to one of the officials below and encourage them to fire this
idiot. Incredibly, Earl's boss Sgt Mullen (sp??) has no intention of doing
so! He has been less than helpful. (I'm being kind.) However, Chief of
Police John Kapicia and Town Supervisor Paul Feiner have been nice. Please
keep your letters calm and rationale-we don't want to come across as a
bunch of lunatics.
In addition, Jane wants to sue, so if anyone can help with the legal stuff
(any lawyers that want to volunteer time, etc.) please let her know. She
could also use any area media contacts that you have.
I will print and forward any email to Jane if folks want to send notes to
her, or she can be reached at:
Jane Wright
41 Temple Rd
Dobbs Ferry NY 10522
Phone (914) 674-2268
(Addresses below are correct-Tarrytown Rd goes through several towns.)
Chief of Police John Kapicia
Town of Greenburg Police
188 Tarrytown Road
White Plains, NY 10607
Town Supervisor Paul Feiner
Town Hall
320 Tarrytown Road
Elmsford NY 10523
Fax# (914) 993-1541
Thanks in advance for your help. I will be posting updates!
-Ilena Ayala
[Posted in FML issue 2492]
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