Friends of the four-legged

by Kenneth R. Cerini

May 23, 2008

When it comes to cracking down on animal hoarders, uninhabitable conditions and abuse, the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been a hero to our furry, feathered and four-legged friends.

”We feel that our assigned task in life is to investigate and prevent animal cruelty,“ said Eugene O’Brien, president of the board of directors, ”and that’s exactly what we do. We have no side agenda; we have no egos; we’re solely here to help the animals, speaking up for those who can’t.“

Can you tell me a about the Nassau County SPCA?

While our organization began in 1973, the Nassau County SPCA reorganized in 2005 and is now comprised of a board of directors and a staff of volunteers. Under the New York Penal Law, we are peace officers, enforcing Article 26 of the New York Agricultural and Market Laws for Animal Cruelty. Our agency is comprised of two divisions – the law enforcement division, which is run by Henry Buck, a retired Lieutenant from the NYCPD; and the humane division, which is run by Dottie Abatelli, who has been doing humane work in the community for over 40 years. We receive approximately 250 calls each month from the Nassau community, 100 of which turn into field investigations on cruelty, while the rest are considered humane cases.

In the case of the Nassau SPCA, what does it mean to have ”peace officer“ status?

In the state of New York, SPCA agents are the only peace officers given the ability to serve search-and-seizure warrants. Peace officers’ powers are limited to the scope of their employment duties. While this is unique to the field we’re in, it’s essential, because someone has to eventually get into the house where a case is reported to see what condition the animals are in. With the help of the Nassau County PD, our members receive an extremely thorough background check, similar to that of the police department, only without the medical aspects, because we’re all volunteers. We also possess arrest powers.

Do you ever work with the Nassau County PD or district attorney’s office?

When we get a call for an animal cruelty case, we send out one of our investigators to do the initial research. If we think the case rises to cruelty status, we contact the district attorney’s office to help us write up a warrant and possibly send reinforcements or an emergency service unit.

How do you work in conjunction with other agencies similar to yours?

Accomplishing our mission is not a one-agency operation. We’re part of a larger community whose goal is to save the animals, and we work well with other groups. In fact, we rely a tremendous amount on the other rescue groups, from providing shelters to referrals, and work closely with the towns of Oyster Bay and Hempstead, in particular. We don’t have an animal shelter of our own, so we often turn to others for help. Recently, the Oyster Bay shelter came to our rescue in a Syosset case, where they sent three or four trucks to a residence with poor living conditions, and housed the animals temporarily until we could foster them out to permanent and loving homes in the community.

What would you like to make sure gets across to the Long Island community?

Along with thanking all those who help us, the most important thing is that if people think they see a case of animal cruelty, call.

(Reprint courtesy of Long Island Business News)