New York Newsday, Sunday, December 10, 1995
A Dog's Life -- And Death
Petition asks shelter to clarify its policy
by Tina Morales
Staff Writer
Nellie was the "pet of the week."
She was loved and cared for by the Phelans, a famdly of five in Glendale -- so much so that the family decided to give her up rather tham force her to exist in the couple's two-bedroom apartment.
So the Phelans took Nellie, a playful, honey-colored mixed breed, to the Center for Animal Care and Control in Brooklyn. They believed the shelter would find a home for her.
Bob Phelan even gave the center a $60 donation. "The techmician said that, because of my generous donation, she would make my dog a pet of the week," he said.
But instead of finding a new home, Nellie was put to sleep less than 24 hours after she was left there.
Bitter and enraged, Lon Phelan wrote a petition-asking for the removal of the CACC's management-and then went out into the community, entreating the strangers she met at the silent marches she organized to sign her request.
"I now have 2,200 signatures," she said. "I want to find out what's going on in that shelter."
Lori Phelan felt betrayed because the Brooklyn shelter didn't make clear the possibility that Nellie could be [put] to sleep, she said.
However, said Marty Kurtz, executive director of the CACC, "When a person surrenders am animal at our centers, they sign a release that states there is no guarantee that the animal won't be put to sleep."
"We didn't read that because we were so distraught giving the dog away," Lori said. "We read their pamphlet because it stated they find homes for dogs- not that they will be put to sleep. I bathed Nellie, brushed her hair groomed her thinking that she would look nice to be adopted. Why would I do this if I thought they were going to put her to sleep?"
The problem, explained Patty Adjamine of New Yorkers for Companion Animals, is that "a lot of people leave the CACC with the idea that their animal would get adopted." Adjamine said that this is because the CACC literature does not make its policy clear.
"By law, if someone bnngs in a stray, the shelter is supposed to hold it for forty-eight hours," Adjamine said. "But people who are giving up their dogs have no idea if and when it will be put to sleep. That reality is not explained. In actuality, the CACC can put its animal to sleep at any time."
"Ours is a disposable society," said Kurtz. "The dog or cat is out of fashion, [their owners] just want to get nd of the animal. We receive over one hundred and fifty animals per day, amd we just don't have enought people to adopt them.
"These few people are harping on these one or two mistakes. Our centers place from seven- to eight-thousand animals for adoption per year. These are isolated cases," he added.
Adjamine said, "The shelter people will argue that, but just because people bnng an animal into their center, doesn't mean they want it killed. Most get put to sleep eventually-some nght away amd others up to three weeks. The shelter argues that they don't have the time to notify people, but my argument is we don't know when that animal will be put to sleep."
Having Nellie put to death was not the Phelans' original intention. "Our apartment is a two-bedroom," Bob said. "Before we took in Nellie, we had three kids and one on the way."
About nine months ago, Lori had rescued the dog from kids who were tormenting her. She and Bob took in the dog but, last summer, they brought the animal to the shelter because they had run out of space in their home.
After being turned down by the North Shore Ammal League, the couple decided to bring Nellie to the CACC. The couple said that a&er they read its brochure, which specified "finding homes for hard-to-place amimals," they were le& with the impression that the organization would find a home for their dog, who was healthy, but missing one paw.
Encouraged by a big sign that read "Adoption Center" hamging outside the Linden Boulevard [Brooklyn] shelter, Bob Phelan said he believed the technician who told him "the dog would be examined by the vet and if she passed, she'll be put up for adoption."
When Bob Phelam asked the technician "not to destroy the dog," he was told that there was no guarantee. "But I asked her how I could stop that and she suggested that I call every day. I told her that in the event they wanted to put the dog to sleep, let me know, and I would take the dog back," Bob said.
"As soon as we got home, Lori called the shelter and was told that everyone in that section went home. As soon as 9 a.m. the next day, Lon called again and this time she was told that someone would call her back," Bob said. She later received the news that the dog was dead.
This sense of being misled in such cases also was expressed by Paul Eiseman, an animal rescuer in Queens.
"I saw this [stray] dog that the CACC was putting into their truck," he recounted. "And got a receipt with the number for the dog because I wanted to pick it up." When Eiseman called the CACC shelter in Brooklyn to make arrangements to pick up the stray, he was told "that the dog would first be checked out by the vet and then put up for adoption . . . I asked them to put a hold on him, but if he gets adopted before then, that's great!" said Eiseman.
While waiting for the two-day penod to pass, Eiseman was making arrangements for the dog to be housed with a sympathetic veterinarian. "But when I went down to pick up the dog, they couldn't find it. I kept asking them, 'where is the dog' and that's when they told me they put it down this morning.
"When I asked why, they told me that the dog came down with an illness. I was disturbed because they didn't give me amy inkling that there was anything wrong with the dog all those times that I called," he said. "In four days it went from being perfectly healthy to being put down?"
Mane Koeshel, an animal activist, recounted a similar story: "Early this year, my neighbor brought two strays to the Brooklyn CACC. She called me when she got back to let me know they were there-she knows about my animal rescue work. I immediately called the shelter and told them I would take the dogs. They were a male and female which my neighbor said were both healthy and beautiful. She called me to let me know they were at the shelter."
But when Koeshel called two days later, the technician put her boss on the phone, who then told her they had already had to destroy one because it became sick. "I put a hold on the animals. They were wanted. Why were they destroyed? I wonder if there was something I could have done differently," Koeshel asked.
But Adjamine raised a concern: "If people begin to not trust the shelter, they are going to believe that am animal is safer on the street," she said. "We already have a huge problem with strays and I know people who remarked that they'd rather put the ammal out on the street because they know the CACC will put it to sleep."
Currently, the Queens borough president's offfice is investigating the possibility of opemng a "no hll" shelter in the borough. "We're collecting background information now, meeting with members of amimal rescue groups," said Mark Scott, community coordinator. "It's under consideration."
"I feel so guilty," said Lori Phelan. "I feel as if I failed that dog and because of that, she's dead. If they told me that my dog had zero chance of being adopted, I would have taken it back and she would be alive today."
"If people hke Lori had that information, they would never have left their dog," Adjamine said.
A Dog's Life -- And Death
Petition asks shelter to clarify its policy
by Tina Morales
Staff Writer
Nellie was the "pet of the week."
She was loved and cared for by the Phelans, a famdly of five in Glendale -- so much so that the family decided to give her up rather tham force her to exist in the couple's two-bedroom apartment.
So the Phelans took Nellie, a playful, honey-colored mixed breed, to the Center for Animal Care and Control in Brooklyn. They believed the shelter would find a home for her.
Bob Phelan even gave the center a $60 donation. "The techmician said that, because of my generous donation, she would make my dog a pet of the week," he said.
But instead of finding a new home, Nellie was put to sleep less than 24 hours after she was left there.
Bitter and enraged, Lon Phelan wrote a petition-asking for the removal of the CACC's management-and then went out into the community, entreating the strangers she met at the silent marches she organized to sign her request.
"I now have 2,200 signatures," she said. "I want to find out what's going on in that shelter."
Lori Phelan felt betrayed because the Brooklyn shelter didn't make clear the possibility that Nellie could be [put] to sleep, she said.
However, said Marty Kurtz, executive director of the CACC, "When a person surrenders am animal at our centers, they sign a release that states there is no guarantee that the animal won't be put to sleep."
"We didn't read that because we were so distraught giving the dog away," Lori said. "We read their pamphlet because it stated they find homes for dogs- not that they will be put to sleep. I bathed Nellie, brushed her hair groomed her thinking that she would look nice to be adopted. Why would I do this if I thought they were going to put her to sleep?"
The problem, explained Patty Adjamine of New Yorkers for Companion Animals, is that "a lot of people leave the CACC with the idea that their animal would get adopted." Adjamine said that this is because the CACC literature does not make its policy clear.
"By law, if someone bnngs in a stray, the shelter is supposed to hold it for forty-eight hours," Adjamine said. "But people who are giving up their dogs have no idea if and when it will be put to sleep. That reality is not explained. In actuality, the CACC can put its animal to sleep at any time."
"Ours is a disposable society," said Kurtz. "The dog or cat is out of fashion, [their owners] just want to get nd of the animal. We receive over one hundred and fifty animals per day, amd we just don't have enought people to adopt them.
"These few people are harping on these one or two mistakes. Our centers place from seven- to eight-thousand animals for adoption per year. These are isolated cases," he added.
Adjamine said, "The shelter people will argue that, but just because people bnng an animal into their center, doesn't mean they want it killed. Most get put to sleep eventually-some nght away amd others up to three weeks. The shelter argues that they don't have the time to notify people, but my argument is we don't know when that animal will be put to sleep."
Having Nellie put to death was not the Phelans' original intention. "Our apartment is a two-bedroom," Bob said. "Before we took in Nellie, we had three kids and one on the way."
About nine months ago, Lori had rescued the dog from kids who were tormenting her. She and Bob took in the dog but, last summer, they brought the animal to the shelter because they had run out of space in their home.
After being turned down by the North Shore Ammal League, the couple decided to bring Nellie to the CACC. The couple said that a&er they read its brochure, which specified "finding homes for hard-to-place amimals," they were le& with the impression that the organization would find a home for their dog, who was healthy, but missing one paw.
Encouraged by a big sign that read "Adoption Center" hamging outside the Linden Boulevard [Brooklyn] shelter, Bob Phelan said he believed the technician who told him "the dog would be examined by the vet and if she passed, she'll be put up for adoption."
When Bob Phelam asked the technician "not to destroy the dog," he was told that there was no guarantee. "But I asked her how I could stop that and she suggested that I call every day. I told her that in the event they wanted to put the dog to sleep, let me know, and I would take the dog back," Bob said.
"As soon as we got home, Lori called the shelter and was told that everyone in that section went home. As soon as 9 a.m. the next day, Lon called again and this time she was told that someone would call her back," Bob said. She later received the news that the dog was dead.
This sense of being misled in such cases also was expressed by Paul Eiseman, an animal rescuer in Queens.
"I saw this [stray] dog that the CACC was putting into their truck," he recounted. "And got a receipt with the number for the dog because I wanted to pick it up." When Eiseman called the CACC shelter in Brooklyn to make arrangements to pick up the stray, he was told "that the dog would first be checked out by the vet and then put up for adoption . . . I asked them to put a hold on him, but if he gets adopted before then, that's great!" said Eiseman.
While waiting for the two-day penod to pass, Eiseman was making arrangements for the dog to be housed with a sympathetic veterinarian. "But when I went down to pick up the dog, they couldn't find it. I kept asking them, 'where is the dog' and that's when they told me they put it down this morning.
"When I asked why, they told me that the dog came down with an illness. I was disturbed because they didn't give me amy inkling that there was anything wrong with the dog all those times that I called," he said. "In four days it went from being perfectly healthy to being put down?"
Mane Koeshel, an animal activist, recounted a similar story: "Early this year, my neighbor brought two strays to the Brooklyn CACC. She called me when she got back to let me know they were there-she knows about my animal rescue work. I immediately called the shelter and told them I would take the dogs. They were a male and female which my neighbor said were both healthy and beautiful. She called me to let me know they were at the shelter."
But when Koeshel called two days later, the technician put her boss on the phone, who then told her they had already had to destroy one because it became sick. "I put a hold on the animals. They were wanted. Why were they destroyed? I wonder if there was something I could have done differently," Koeshel asked.
But Adjamine raised a concern: "If people begin to not trust the shelter, they are going to believe that am animal is safer on the street," she said. "We already have a huge problem with strays and I know people who remarked that they'd rather put the ammal out on the street because they know the CACC will put it to sleep."
Currently, the Queens borough president's offfice is investigating the possibility of opemng a "no hll" shelter in the borough. "We're collecting background information now, meeting with members of amimal rescue groups," said Mark Scott, community coordinator. "It's under consideration."
"I feel so guilty," said Lori Phelan. "I feel as if I failed that dog and because of that, she's dead. If they told me that my dog had zero chance of being adopted, I would have taken it back and she would be alive today."
"If people hke Lori had that information, they would never have left their dog," Adjamine said.