Tails in the News

By Mickey Kramer

Pets in Housing bill gets a push

On Saturday, April 5, on the steps of City Hall, New York City Council member and mayoral candidate Tony Avella (D, 19, Queens) invoked the rarely used “sponsor’s privilege” request, forcing speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn and the chair of the Housing and Buildings Committee, Erik Dilan, to schedule a hearing on the longstanding
Intro. 13 (also known as the Pets in Housing bill). The purpose of this legislation is to help clarify the rights of pet owners in multiple dwellings.

Intro. 13 was introduced on February 1, 2006, and if passed, will restore the original intent of the law for rental tenants in multiple dwellings by providing that, once the no-pet clause is waived for one pet, the rental tenant may replace that pet without being subject to eviction for violating the no-pet lease clause.

“This legislation will limit the displacement of people who move in order to keep pets and provide much-needed homes for animals at shelters who might otherwise be euthanized due to the lack of available homes,” Avella says.

“However, despite the existence of 30 sponsors [well over a majority] on this bill and two years after its introduction, the bill has yet to be scheduled for a public hearing,” Avella asserts. “I told my colleagues it is shameful that the real-estate industry has succeeded in creating an atmosphere, through a campaign of disinformation, where we are unable to schedule a hearing on this bill.”

John Phillips, executive director of the League of Humane Voters of New York City (LOHV-NYC), who also spoke at the press conference, adds, “Many New Yorkers rely on their pets for companionship. When a beloved pet dies, the last thing you want to be told is that you can’t get another one. Speaker Christine Quinn ought to have a heart and pass Council member Avella’s Pets in Housing bill immediately.”

City Council member Inez E. Dickens (D, 9, Manhattan) is currently not sponsoring Intro. 13. The staff of Dickens’ office says, “Council member Dickens is not against pet ownership or pet owners. She’s still reviewing all aspects of the legislation with tenant groups and animal rights activists in the Greater Harlem community.”

Stolen dog gets returned and

great lesson learned

Jessica Kurland and her husband, Kevin, lived through the most preventable of horror stories involving their beloved British Bulldog, Clara.
In late March, Kurland tied up her dog while shopping at a Midtown supermarket on the west side of Manhattan.

When she came out, Clara was gone. Three traumatic days later, with a lot of help from fellow Bulldog guardians Beth Ostrosky and Howard Stern (who put Kurland on the air to plead her case), RescueInk.org, and other sources, Clara was returned.

Kurland is forever changed. “If I can get the word out to as many people as possible not to tie your dog up, then I can tell myself that this happened for a reason,” she says.

Clara and the Kurlands have since received lots of attention, appearing in the New York Post and on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet on FOX, among others. Kurland is hoping all this media attention leads to greater care and protection of dogs.

“The good that will hopefully come out of this is an awareness to dog [guardians] that it is never OK to tie your dog up outside for any length of time, regardless of if you can see [her] or not. If less people tied their dogs up, then surely there would be less missing, mistreated, and abused dogs. Through this experience, I have learned horror stories about what dogs are stolen and used for. It’s a big ugly business that no animal deserves to be subject to.”

When asked what people should do if they must tie up their dog, Sandra DeFeo, co-executive director and director of public relations for the Humane Society of New York, says: “A person should never tie [his] dog up under any circumstances. If you have to go somewhere where your dog cannot go, please think ahead of time and leave [her] at home, where [she] will be safe from harm. Dogs [who are] tied up cannot defend themselves from being attacked by another dog or from a person who might steal, hurt, or drug them, and the list goes on and on. Quite simply, they are an easy target and completely vulnerable and completely unable to flee from harm. … Some things that happen cannot be reversed, and if, for example, their dog is stolen, they may never see their beloved companion again.”

Since the incident, Kurland already feels she’s making a difference. “Since this happened, I’ve received many emails from people saying that they have learned a lesson from this and that they will never tie up their dog again… That makes me feel really good.”

Upper East Side resident, cat guardian, and dog lover Meryl Weiner often stays outside with tied-up dogs, occasionally even getting in late to work. “I’m afraid the dog will get stolen; the dogs are so anxious without their [guardians] that I try to comfort them. I hate to see them upset,” she says.

Kurland concurs: “I, too, will be one of those people [who] wait outside of a store with a tied-up dog and wait for [his guardian]… and then tell them my story.”

“I try to find a reason for everything good or bad that happens in life. I am very lucky that my story has a happy ending since many don’t.”

New York City’s only doggie playground celebrates 10th anniversary

The Friends of Canine Court and dog trainer and author Bash Dibra are pleased to announce that New York City’s only doggie playground, Canine Court, located in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, has recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a $10,000 makeover.

The renovation took place mostly through a generous check from an anonymous supporter and friend of Dibra. The $10,000 was donated and designated to help spruce up the playground. The makeover included expansion of the playground’s perimeters, the addition of new equipment, and the replacement of some of the older agility equipment.

The 14,000-square-foot playground includes an obstacle/agility course with hurdles, hoops, seesaws, slides, tunnels, crawl spaces, and a self-contained
free-play area, all within the safe confines of the fenced-in, secured boundaries of Canine Court.

“There are 15 million dogs abandoned each year in shelters because of behavioral problems... If only people can train and exercise them, they would solve many of the problems. That is why I wanted to developed an agility playground park where the dogs can get all the exercise they need and learn obedience, creating that special human-animal bond relationship,” Dibra says.

The renovation has been completed in time for the celebration of the park’s 10th anniversary and the beginning of spring. Everyone is invited to visit the new and improved Canine Court.

For more information, contact Friends of Canine Court/Bash Dibra at
(718) 796-4541.

Camp Critter hosts summer humane camp

Camp Critter, a program offered through the SPCA of Westchester, is now accepting applications for kids aged 6 through 13 to participate in the annual camp that provides a fun yet important humane education.

Director of Humane Education and Volunteer Coordinator Alice Shanahan explains that the camp allows kids to observe and interact with animals while learning how to care for them. “With a $250 donation to the SPCA, kids will have fun while learning about animal care, sheltering, and animal cruelty,” Shanahan says. “They will also participate in arts and crafts, painting murals on the dog runs in the shelter, bake biscuits, and learn how to approach dogs they don’t know.”

A counselor and a counselor in training (CIT) will pair up with every two children as they interact with the animals on a daily basis. “This provides a high ratio of counselors and CITs for the campers, which will provide extra safety for the children,” explains Shanahan.

With Camp Critter in its second year, it has proven to be successful for not only the kids in the community, but for the shelter as well.

The camp also includes a pet sponsorship program. Through this program, kids are able to choose a dog or a cat to sponsor. They then create “adopt me” flyers and posters, which help the sponsored animals receive more exposure.

According to Shanahan, the program and the camp in general have been very successful, having helped numerous animals get adopted.

Camp Critter provides afternoon sessions (from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.) only. The camp allows 12 children per session. Sessions begin on July 21 and are one week long per age group, The dates for each age group are as follows:

July 21–25: 6 through 9
July 28–August 1: 10 through 13
August 4–8: 10 through 13

For more information regarding Camp Critter, please contact Alice Shanahan at ashanahanspca@optonline.net. The last day to register is June 30.
—Elizabeth Piwowarski