Mangano & North Shore Animal League America Announce Emergency Foster Care Referral Program

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano and North Shore Animal League America announce today an Emergency Foster Care Referral Program for pets who have fallen victim to Hurricane Sandy. The Nassau County Office of Emergency Management and North Shore Animal League America will utilize their resources to assist pet owners and potential foster parents to create an introduction so that homeless pets can be given a temporary home while their owners continue to recover from Hurricane Sandy.

Each Foster Applicant will be thoroughly screened by a North Shore Animal League America Fostering Specialist and will be provided with a list of potential animals that match their criteria. Upon matching, owners will be given the information of the Foster Parents that match their criteria, so that they can determine who they would like to place their animal with and if they are amenable to the program. Any agreement will be made between the animal’s owner and the foster parent.

“This program pairs a beloved pet with a foster parent while its owner recovers from Hurricane Sandy. It’s a great way of providing peace of mind, love and care for the pet until the owner and pet can be safely reunited,” said County Executive Mangano.

In preparation of Hurricane Sandy, the Emergency Pet Shelter was started by the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management along with North Shore Animal League America, the Nassau County SPCA and Pet Safe Coalition. On October 28th, North Shore Animal League America set up two of their Mobile Rescue & Adoption Units to aide in the shelter of displaced pets at the Mitchell Field Athletic Complex.

The shelter was then moved, post-Sandy, to a larger location, Mitchell Field Gymnasium, to accommodate the amount of animals that were displaced due to the storm.

Nassau County has kept the shelter open to help ease the stresses of those affected by the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy by offering temporary shelter for their displaced pets and providing care to ensure their safety and well-being. Currently there are over 100 animals in the shelter including dogs and cats that are looking for foster homes. In total the shelter has taken care of over 500 owned animals. Owners have been able to visit their pets daily from 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. and 3 – 7:30pm.

I have been overwhelmed by the generosity we have seen throughout the county during this devastating time,” said County Executive Mangano. Some of the groups who have help or donated to our emergency pet shelter in addition to our CERT Volunteers and county employees include: North Shore Animal League, Pet Safe Coalition, Nassau SPCA, LIVMA, Bideawee, Long Island Cat Fanciers, Long Island Parrot Society, Shelter Connection, Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter, Town of North Hempstead Animal Shelter, Little Shelter, Forgotten Friends, Girls Scouts, HSUS, in addition to a large amount of walk up volunteers. It makes me proud to be Nassau’s County Executive and I thank them all on behalf of all of our residents.”

Members of the Public can call the Emergency Pet Shelter at 516-272-0017 if they have any questions. Anyone interested in fostering or volunteering is asked to email emergencypetshelter@gmail.com The Shelter is located at the Mitchell Field Gymnasium, 241 Miller Ave, Garden City, NY. Located just behind the Long Island Children’s Museum.