Pol spars with animal shelters over euthanizations
BY MEG CAPONE
Greenpoint Assemblyman
Joe Lentol and New York City’s
offi cial animal shelter are in a
heated back-and-forth after the
organization euthanized an allegedly
aggressive dog, which
the legislator claimed was premature
and inhumane.
“There is no reason to rush
to euthanize right now,” said
Lentol in a press release.
According to Lentol, Animal
Care Centers of NYC —
a non-profi t that acts as New
York City’s animal control and
shelter system — put down a
“friendly and healthy” fi veyear
old Labrador Retriever
on April 8. NYPD patrolmen
had found the dog roaming the
streets and the offi cers had even
offered to adopt the pup themselves
if no one else claimed
him, Lentol claimed.
The incident inspired Lentol
to introduce a bill on April 29
halting the public and private
shelters from euthanizing domestic
dogs or cats for the duration
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Life has been disrupted
and owners may be separated
from their animals for many
reasons, illness and death included,
leading to complications
COURIER L 20 IFE, MAY 22-28, 2020
within families and with
their pets,” Lentol said. “At a
minimum, we must give animals
and families time to reunite.”
The only problem with Lentol’s
widely-shared sob-story
is that it is completely untrue,
according to the shelter’s
spokeswoman, who said the
lawmaker’s bill is based on misinformation.
“We were very surprised by
this tragic story because that’s
not even close to what happened,”
said Katy Hansen, the
organization’s director of marketing
and communications.
According to Hansen, the
dog, named Thor, arrived at
the ACC on March 20 after the
NYPD responded to reports of
a dangerous and aggressive
dog, and struggled for several
minutes to get Thor into their
squad car.
Thor’s owners say they had
called the police to take Thor
away after a series of vicious attacks
— contradicting Lenton’s
claim that Thor was a lost dog.
“We tried for like an hour
and a half to get him out of my
van,” said the cousin of Thor’s
owner, who requested anonymity
to speak freely about the incident.
She called the police after
witnessing Thor “viciously”
attack a family friend, she said.
“He even lunged at one of the offi
cers. I remember six police offi
cers there trying to get Thor.”
The family had been looking
for shelters to take Thor after
he allegedly bit his owner and
her 12-year-old son, but many
refused him because of his behavioral
issues, according to
the owner’s cousin.
They then brought the dog
to the home of a family friend,
who was considering taking
the canine — but Thor allegedly
jumped on her, biting her
once in her right leg and twice
on her arm, forcing her to go to
the hospital for a debridement
after she feared the bite had become
infected. ”
And when the offi cers
brought Thor to the animal
control shelter, they never offered
to adopt the dog as Lentol
had claimed, said the ACC rep.
The agency had also not
been informed of Thor’s biting
history, said Hansen.
“That defi nitely would have
changed how we handled him
— because then he bit a staff
member,” said Hansen, who
stressed that the staff member
could have been hospitalized,
but chose to treat his wounds
himself to avoid a trip to the
emergency room during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Lentol stood his ground,
however, saying “all of the people
who were there” contradicted
Hansen’s account, and
the injuries were very minor.
“It’s not at all true that anyone
was bitten,” said Lentol.
“The dog nipped at the person
at the shelter because someone
was waving papers around or
something.”
Hansen claims to have fi led
an incident report and photographs
regarding the bite, but
said the photographs will not
be released to ensure the privacy
of the male staff member.
After the incident, the ACC
placed the dog in a ten-day Department
of Health observational
hold — which is a standard
procedure for any animal
that bites someone to be tested
for rabies. After that hold, the
agency made the decision to euthanize
Thor based on his behavior
and biting history.
“There are plenty of people
who want to adopt animals during
this pandemic, but this dog
didn’t just bite once — he bit
multiple times,” said Hansen.
“Now more than ever with this
pandemic going on, we are under
heightened responsibility
to make sure that the public is
safe.”
Lentol responded to the
ACC’s decision, claiming that
no circumstances would justify
putting down the dog given the
current climate.
“Regardless of whether anyone
was bitten or not, it doesn’t
make any sense for the ACC to
be euthanizing animals right
now,” he said.
Lentol called his legislation
to halt euthanizations, which is
currently awaiting approval by
the relevant Assembly committee,
a necessary step to ensure
that no innocent animals die
unnecessarily.
“The policy I am advocating
makes common sense and
should not need to be legislated,
but instead of just requesting
that a government agency
implement it and hope for the
best, I believe state legislation
is called for,” said Lentol. “My
bill will apply to public, private,
and non-profi t animal shelters
throughout New York State.”
The NYPD did not respond
to requests for comment.