A dog gone shame
BY ROSE ADAMS
Angry animal lovers gathered
outside a Bensonhurst pet store
on Saturday to protest the shop’s
allegedly substandard conditions
— which activists claim includes
selling customers sick and dying
dogs.
“This store sold us, and hundreds
of others, a puppy that was
sick with kennel cough and had a
congenital eye defect,” said Elena
Okhotnikova, an executive at the
non-profi t American Alliance for
Protection of Animals Inc. “We
had to surgically remove his right
eye because it was a dead eye.”
The manager of Puppy Boutique,
located on 80th Street between
16th and 17th avenues, said
that the store sells six breeds from
67 licensed breeders, and more
than 250,000 canines have passed
through the shop in their 25 years
— with only a fraction of them having
health problems.
However, Okhotnikova claims
that just because a breeder is licensed
by the state doesn’t mean
that it abides by ethical practices,
and said that customers reported
NYC Health+ Hospitals / Kings County Heart Health Center
COURIER L 14 IFE, FEB. 28-MAR. 5, 2020
purchasing dogs suffering
illnesses typically contracted in
puppy mills. “As long as people
continue buying puppies from pet
stores, they are promoting puppy
mills and thus promoting animal
cruelty,” she said.
During the protest, several bereaved
dog owners spoke about
their bad experiences with the
puppy store, and held signs that
read “Puppy Boutique = Puppy
Mill” and “Save the pups, Close
them up!”
The neighborhood’s Councilman
Justin Brannan, an avowed
animal rights activist who once
played in a band with two pitbull
vocalists, said that his proposal to
ban puppy mills could shut down
the Puppy Boutique.
“The commercial puppy industry
treats dogs like machines and
keeps them captive in cruel conditions,
just so they can keep churning
out puppies,” he said in a statement.
One unhappy customer said
that the store sold her an 8-weekold
Shih Tzu suffering from heartworms
— a parasite transmitted
through mosquito bites that cause
lung and heart disease — landing
the dog in the hospital for fi ve days
and leaving her with a $5,000 medical
bill.
“The vets were saying that had
it gone longer he would’ve died,”
said Karina Sanchez, who bought
her dog, Kush, in late January.
Sanchez said she was appalled
by the conditions and care that
Puppy Boutique provided the dog,
saying she found the pooch surrounded
by feces and discovered
staff feeding her Gatorade and
Frosted Flakes!
“I noticed there was something
weird in their drink,” she said. “I
asked the employee and he said,
‘Oh, we give puppies Gatorade because
it gives them electrolytes.”
A manager at the store, who
would only give his name as
Philip, admitted to feeding the
dogs sugary foods, saying the diet
was cleared by the city’s Department
of Health, which inspects the
store regularly.
“We only got a ticket once in
25 years, and it was for a vacuum
problem,” Philip said.
More than 15 protesters gathered in Bensonhurst on Feb. 22
to call for the closure of Puppy Boutique, which they claim
has sold sick and dying dogs. Photo by Nico Z Rogan
Animal lovers accuse pet store of selling sick and dying dogs
The heart symbolizes love,
so it makes sense that each
February, during American
Heart Month, we are reminded
to look after the organ
that keeps us ticking.
This tradition began in
1964, started by President Lyndon
B. Johnson, nine years after
he had a heart attack.
While we have made a lot
of progress since then, the
American Heart Association
tells us that heart disease
kills more people than cancer,
so it’s a good time to schedule
a visit to the NYC Health +
Hospital/Kings County Heart
Health Center in East Flatbush.
The Center offers comprehensive
services designed
to improve the health of this
important organ. Specifically,
it is an integrated facility
that offers an array of
services to patients who have
suffered heart failure. Dr.
Inna Bukharovich, Chief of
Cardiology and Director of
the Heart Health Center, says
that Center is staffed by a fullservice
team of professionals
such as cardiac specialists,
psychologists, psychiatrists,
nurse practitioners, nutritionists,
pharmacists, and social
workers, all working together
to benefit the patient.
By offering all of these
services at one convenient
location, patients can meet
with these service providers,
and be tested, all in the same
day. As a result, the road to a
healthy heart begins faster.
Patients are not forced to run
all over town, waiting weeks
for appointments. They are
not sitting around, stressing
about test results. Instead,
they leave with test results
and treatment plans, in hand.
This multidisciplinary
outpatient clinic is one part
of the many cardiac services
available at the hospital, and
it has helped to reduce hospitalizations,
re-admissions,
and emergency room visits,
says Dr. Bukharovich.
She cites the findings of
a U.S. News & World Report
study that recognizes hospitals
for various specialties.
More than 4,500 medical centers
were evaluated nationwide.
She says, “NYC Health +
Hospitals/Kings County was
recognized as ‘high performing’
for heart failure.” This
recognition was published
as part of the national magazine’s
“Best Hospital” issue
for 2019-20. Dr. Bukharovich
is proud of that accomplishment,
and says, “The annual
rankings are designed to assist
patients and their doctors
in making informed decisions
about where to receive care.”
In fact, many of the programs
at NYC Health + Hospitals/
Kings County have received
national recognition,
including the cardiac, stroke,
and diabetes units. The hospital
has claimed many “firsts”
in the field of medicine. For
example, it was the site of the
first open-heart surgery performed
in New York State.
Physicians there invented
the world’s first hemodialysis
machine, and conducted
the first studies of HIV infection
in women. The hospital
was named the first Level 1
Trauma Center in the U.S.
Built in 1831 as a one-room
infirmary for publicly supported
care of the sick, NYC
Health + Hospitals/Kings
County continues to be a leading
health care facility. Its
mission is to provide care to
everyone, regardless of the
ability to pay.
The hospital remains on
the cutting edge of technology,
and provides the most modern
procedures with state-of-theart
equipment.
NYC Health + Hospital/
Kings County Heart Health
Center, 451 Clarson Ave.
between New York and Albany
Avenues in East Flatbush.
(718) 245-7388, www.
nychealthandhospitals.org/
kingscounty. Open Monday
through Friday, from 8am -
4:30 pm.
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/nychealthandhospitals.org