Angel's Gate shelter/rescue under attack

[friesianrider]

Just received this email, please read and scroll to the bottom for the email addresses and phone numbers of who to contact to express your support:

Holding Hospice Hostage

Right now, the only animal hospice on Long Island is under emotional siege. Some of Angel's Gate Animal Hospice's neighbors in Ft. Salonga want it shut down or, unpacked elsewhere. It does not matter that they moved into their house several years after Angel's Gate started, they want it gone from their sight. They took their complaint to Town Hall in Smithtown two weeks ago (see Commentary) and plan to be there again this Tuesday.

In an informal phone conversation with Eye on Monday, Town Board member Patricia Biancaniello said, "It's a tough issue. Everyone is grappling with it. Her (Susan Marino) motives are very, very good. I just have real concerns about whether you can have that many animals in a house." Having said that, Ms. Biancaniello added that town representatives have visited Angel's Gate any number of times in the last thirteen years without ever finding that the non-profit organization has broken even one town statute.

Life at Angel's Gate begins every morning at 6 a.m. With time out at 1:30 for a sit-down hot meal every day of the week, the floors are scrubbed, the walls are cleaned, the cages are refreshed, the animals are fed, the dogs are walked. At 3, Angel's Gate welcomes visitors.

The lunch hour is important at Angel's Gate, especially for children, said Susan Marino. "That is when we can share our thoughts and feelings and grieve together over the loss of an animal." It is a cathartic time, especially for the child volunteers who, though they may live in another town, are part of the hospice's network of volunteers during school vacation time throughout the year.
"We try to teach them that it is alright to grieve and to express their feelings. They get very attached to particular animals. They must be able to work through that loss."

Even very young children come to work alongside their mothers on weekends. They may wash windows, pick up towels, rake leaves, spend quality time talking to a cat, brushing a dog, or just being a comforting friend to one of the animals. Summer and winter, children commit vacation time to Angel's Gate.

A first-time visitor may be surprised to see a volunteer snuggled up to a dog, catching a little pretend sleep or, find a dog paddling around the swimming pool with Ms. Marino right beside him, but hydrotherapy is a regular part of animal care. The pool house shelters the cats with feline leukenia and the tennis court may be rife with tennis balls but the court has become the dog run.
Asked once why she was doing this hard, time-consuming work, Ms. Marino, a registered nurse with over 30 years experience in critical care for children, replied, "Not doing it would be a lot more difficult."

In her work, Ms. Marino is raising public awareness to the acute need of bestowing all animals with love and dignity throughout their lives, not only when they are young and healthy. Angel's Gate, an Affiliate member of The Mayor's Alliance of New York, is living testament that animals can approach the final stages of life in a caring and loving environment.

Below is an open letter from Kimberly Sorino who lives a short distance away from Angel's Gate:


Dear Friends,
Some of you know that there is a small group of neighbors surrounding Angel's Gate Animal Hospice in Fort Salonga, NY who are trying to close them down. This is not news, as there have been complaints in the past but to no avail. However, now this group is taking it to the next level by hiring an attorney and trying to pursue legal action. Angel's Gate has always maintained an open door policy and has been inspected, interviewed, observed, and/or been paid surprise visits by the Department of Health, Department of Public Safety, Buildings Department, Animal Control, The ASPCA, and the Smithtown Town Attorney and have been found in no violation of any wrong doing. In fact, founder Susan Marino won the ASPCA Founders Award in 2003 for her work with animals.

Since all else has failed, this small faction of the neighborhood is now trying to claim that Angel's Gate is running as a "business" when in fact it is a nonprofit providing the only services of it's kind on Long Island. Among those supporting the hospice is the remaining majority of Angel's Gate neighbors. Now Sue, Victor and their incredible staff caring for the sick, injured, homeless, and terminally ill animals need our help.

Call in your support to Smithtown Town Supervisor Patrick Vecchio(631 360-7600) and Council members Patricia Biancaniello, Thomas McCarthy, Edward Wehrheim, and Joanne Gray (631 360-7621), and express the need for the hospice in the Long Island community. Or, e-mail them: [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], go through the town website, http://www.smithtowninfo.com/email.cfm.

Donate to Angel's Gate. Contributions will help those animals in need and support the continued operation of the animal hospice. Go to http://www.angelsgate.org/.htm and click on "Make A Donation." Your contribution is tax-deductible and will be greatly appreciated especially at this time.

For further details or if you have any questions, please call Angel's Gate at [phone].

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Will do and will forward this info to my entire email list.