Mission: To catch a kinkajou

Cesar Castillo

From the Queens Chronicle:

A photographer made an unusual find near the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Center on Thursday: a tropical animal called a kinkajou lounging in a tree.

Not knowing what it was, lensman Cesar Castillo on Friday sent an email out to the birding community via the NYSBirds-L listserv, with a link to the photo he took and had posted to Flickr.

Later it was determined that it must be a kinkajou because olingos do not have prehensile tails — that is, tails that can be used for grasping things, such as food or tree branches.

The Queens Chronicle informed volunteer wildlife rescuers Cathy and Bobby Horvath of the discovery and forwarded Castillo’s photo to them. The Horvaths operate a service called WINORR, Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation, in North Massapequa, LI. Bobby Horvath is a firefighter with the FDNY, and the couple often takes in wild animals found in the city.

Cathy Horvath said the animal must have been dumped there, and that she and her husband would go check it out and determine how best to capture it. And she offered words of caution to anyone who might come across the kinkajou.

“They’re a little bit fresh,” she said. “If they’re not tame, they’re a little bit bitey. They look soft and cuddly, but they can mess you up.”

Northeast Queens experiencing raccoon invasion

From WPIX:

This summer many Northern Queens residents are living with raccoons in their community that appear to feel comfortable roaming the streets in broad daylight.

Matt Ringler said 11 raccoons recently showed up at his parents’ backdoor in Bayside.

Little Neck Resident Joe Heslin described the raccoon population, “to say that there are 1,000 in this neighborhood would be underestimating it.”

Heslin told PIX11, “I’ve looked out the window and the mother’s been looking out the driveway and 3 or 4 little pups would be chewing my garbage and she’d look at me, I’d look at her, and the kids would keep chowing down, so they’re not afraid.”

“They’re not like other animals that see humans and run the other way, they can be very vicious,” said State Senator Tony Avella.

7 of Avella's bills passed by Senate

This week the State Senate passed a series of legislation, authored by Senator Avella, dedicated to expanding public safety, creating an early learning program, advocating for noise reduction, preventing fraud when paying off tax liens, and minimizing the potential for miscalculations in child support payments.

The bills which passed through the Senate include:

· S4898: Mandates the New York Transit Authority to produce annual reports concerning actions to reduce noise.
· S7089: Requires that the Metropolitan Transit Authority provide the public with a pledge to customers; this ensures that riders are provided with more information and that their interests in utilizing the public transport system are protected.
· S6903-C: Enhances public safety and directly protects animal caretakers, those interacting with wild animals, bystanders and the animals themselves by preventing direct contact between wild animals and members of the public.
· S680: Relates to method of payment on delinquent real property taxes, sewer rents, sewer surcharges, water rents, or any other charges that are made a lien; payments must be made in certified check or money order to prevent fraud
· S6961: Establishes the Early Learning Council with the purpose of securing public and private support for early learning program for children up to the age of five.
· S6784: Amends an inconsistency in existing social services law to ensure that an accurate method is used when calculating the amount of child support payments by the Supreme Family Court
· S725A: Increases the terms of office of members of the legislature to four years

Three of the bills, S4989, S7089 and S6961 have already passed the Assembly and will now be delivered to the Governor for his signature.

When will the government-sponsored killing end?

From the NY Post:

The Port Authority killed 20,000 animals over the past two years — including three bird species deemed endangered or threatened, The Post has learned.

The agency shotgunned a northern harrier at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport — even though the hawk is endangered in the state, according to 2012-13 data obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

Teterboro’s shooters also zapped an American kestrel, a small falcon listed as threatened in New Jersey. And hunters at JFK Airport offed 11 ospreys, which are labeled as at-risk in New York.

But birds weren’t the only animals in the cross hairs: Tarmac hunters also killed four red foxes, 11 coyotes, 44 muskrats, 62 woodchucks and 11 white-tailed deer. Eighty-two eastern cottontail rabbits were killed at Newark and JFK airports, along with 44 black-tailed jack rabbits at JFK.

Queens #1 in dopes harboring wild animals

From DNA Info:

The Health Department doled out 290 violations to residents and stores in the past five years for harboring animals banned within the city limits.

The beastly busts included a Staten Island man keeping a zebra for his start-up petting zoo, a Brighton Beach theater exhibiting marsupials and a Columbia University superintendent who scared faculty when he would sit on a terrace with his 4-foot python wrapped around his arm, records show.

But most of the monkey business happened in Queens.

The second-most-populated borough led the pack with 86 summonses between Jan. 1, 2008, and September 2013, according to the Health Department. Brooklyn had 69 during that time period, followed by the Bronx with 59, Manhattan with 49 and Staten Island with 27.

Forest Hills chicken is happy at farm

From DNA Info:

Queeny, the tiny hen who delighted Forest Hills residents for a year by prancing along 71st Avenue and Station Square, is thriving in her new home at an upstate farm animal sanctuary, the owner of the farm said.

“She lives the best life,” said Kurt Andernach, 50, of the 60-acre And-Hof-Animal Sanctuary in Catskill, N.Y., where Queeny was taken just before Hurricane Sandy.

Queeny, a Bantam Araucana hen who ate bagels and blocked traffic in Forest Hills, now hangs out with a flock of seven other chickens of the same breed. Among her "best friends" are two roosters, Henry and Herbert, and a hen named Silly, Andernach said.

Most of the Bantam chickens at the animal sanctuary were rescued from post offices, after the birds were injured during shipping or people who ordered them failed to pick them up, he said.

Queeny was taken upstate just before Hurricane Sandy hit, after a group of Forest Hills residents worried the chicken would not survive winter and the dangers of Queens traffic, and asked Andernach to take her in.

No one has the guts to clean up the entrails

"This has to be the last straw if residents have a chance to good health and dignity.

Notice, that no one is standing at the bus stop at 108 & Merrick Boulevard. Starting around 11:00 0' clock yesterday morning (9/3/13). An awful smell was so strong that the police had to use a bin to make the bus stop impassable.

The scent was too intense for human or animals. Needless to say, it traveled through several blocks.

Near-by employees and the general public were busy on their cell calling 311, local leaders or anyone for help.

This played out throughout the day. About 6:47 p. m, a young white sanitation inspector was driving by.

A few of us tried to stop him, he continued driving, but was stopped by the red light at 108 & Merrick. We asked about the scent. He replied that it is animal guts and other remains. The light turned green, he sped off while saying the authorities are aware of the situation.

However, employees near- by said that the guts and remains were left by a truck.

Councilman Comrie, when will you and others leaders put a stop to this inhumanity? Also, an investigation is necessary.

We are awaiting a response." - Pamela Hazel via Joe Moretti

Paul Vallone: Animal Advocate and Environmentalist?

From NYCLASS:

How we decided which candidates to endorse:

NYCLASS staff and volunteers interviewed more than 60 candidates. All candidates were selected based on their support of animal protection issues such as:

Banning horse drawn carriages and/or replacing them with vintage electric cars
Reforming NYC Animal Care & Control (the city's shelter system)
Building animal shelters in the Bronx and Queens (which currently have none)
Banning puppy mills
Requiring all pet stores to install fire sprinklers
Protecting a senior citizens' right to have a companion animal

Peter Vallone, Sr. wanted to expand the area in which horse carriages could operate.
But I'm sure his son is not a chip off the old block, even though he can't stop mentioning how proud he is of his pop's record of service. And his brother wants to ban pit bulls but I'm sure Paul thinks that's a terrible idea as well.

Glad to hear Paul is against puppy mills. I wonder which shelter he got that Bichon Frisé from...

As for environmentalism, Paul's CB7 record includes voting yes on a variance for a hotel in the middle of a river, not showing up to vote on the USTA expansion (which includes a power plant), and being part of a lobbying firm that represented a toxic soil dumping developer. Rumor has it that his buddies are eyeing the old Whitestone CYO site for development as well, where the community wants a park.

Kind of perplexing why NYCLASS would pick Vallone considering all this. Oh.....wait! I forgot something from the NYCLASS website:


We also considered each candidates' leadership potential and winability.

Ah, in other words, if you were endorsed by County, NYCLASS will say that you're an animal advocate and an environmentalist. Even when you aren't.

Yet another fake advocacy group.

At this point, I'd rather trust the Dilluvios than NYCLASS. They took down their Vallone signs.

Keeping stuff out of the country

From NBC:

Federal officers in Queens inspect packages, making sure the environment stays free of invasive plant and animal species that could harm our local ecosystems. Marc Santia reports.

Restaurant puts kibosh on horsemeat entrees

From the NY Times:

M. Wells Dinette, the highly anticipated reincarnation inside MoMA PS1 of a celebrated Queens restaurant, has been open for only five days, but its chef and owners have already removed a controversial item planned for the menu.

The restaurant’s chef and co-owner, Hugue Dufour, said Thursday that he would not serve horse meat tartare, in response to outrage from animal rights advocates and concern about legal ramifications from health officials.

Mr. Dufour, a French Canadian who ate and cooked horse meat when he trained as a chef in Montreal, had not imported the meat yet from Canada. But after he announced his plans in an interview with New York magazine two weeks ago, animal rights advocates formed two petitions through change.org that drew approximately 1,300 signatures demanding its removal.

Mr. Dufour and Ms. Obraitis said they had been receiving angry e-mails and postings that threatened their personal safety. The museum, they said, also received letters demanding that its upscale cafeteria not serve the meat.

New vet station for JFK

From CBS New York:

A new $32 million facility that will provide kenneling, grooming and other services for about 70,000 domestic and wild animals a year is going to be built at [JFK] airport.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates JFK, approved the plans on Thursday.

ARK Development LLC will use Building 78 at the airport, which is currently empty, as well as 14.4 acres of the grounds for the project.

It will have kenneling and grooming services for dogs and cats, as well as a quarantine area for horses, an aviary, lawn space, a veterinary hospital and rehabilitation center.

Port Authority officials say it will create 190 jobs.

Are Bronx and Queens strays out of luck?

From the Daily News:

City health officials are promising to renovate a small Bronx animal receiving center and relocate a Queens facility for stray and homeless animals.

But it's little comfort, advocates say, for the only two boroughs lacking full-service animal shelters.

The City Council is weighing a bill that pumps more money into the budget-ravaged New York City Animal Care & Control in return for repealing part of a law that requires full-service shelters in all five boroughs.

That would boost the AC&C budget to over $12 million by fiscal year 2014, a 77% increase over current funding, said Daniel Kass, deputy commissioner at the Health Department.

But that's not sitting well with some elected officials.

"This seems like a form of extortion," Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said at a hearing last week on the bill. "I can't allow the animals and the people in the Bronx and Queens to be treated differently."

The new bill is especially painful for Vallone. His father, Peter Vallone Sr., sponsored the law it would partially repeal.

Oh deer, what a find!

From Douglaston Patch:

The 111th Precinct received a surprise visitor on Monday after a Bayside resident made an anonymous drop-off at the precinct’s Northern Boulevard-based station.

The precinct kept the deer in a kennel until a rehabilitator from WINNOR (Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation) could pick it up and take it to the nonprofit’s nature center in Massapequa, L.I..

The doe, which was estimated to be three or four weeks old, only weighs eight pounds, but will likely grow to be 100 pounds, [Rehabilitator Cathy] Horvath said.

Patrick Kwan, New York State director for the Humane Society of the United States, said it is not surprising that the deer was wandering around the five boroughs.

ASPCA opens at Atlas Park

From the Queens Chronicle:

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals last Friday officially relocated from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and set up operations inside the spacious Atlas Terminals in Glendale.

The national animal welfare organization has signed five-year leases with ATCO Advisory Services on two separate sites at the historical former manufacturing and warehousing property on Cooper Avenue at 80th Street. One space houses the ASPCA’s six mobile spay and neuter clinics and an office, while the other will be used as a veterinary facility, which it anticipates to open in April. Approximately 20 members and two full-time veterinarians will staff the two sites.

Neither the mobile facilities nor the clinic will take emergencies; both will provide free and low-cost spay and neuter surgeries. The ASPCA’s humane law enforcement operations will remain in Long Island City.

Alligator found in Astoria

From the NY Post:

Cops apprehended an 18-inch gator that crawled out of an Astoria drain and hunkered down beneath a parked car this afternoon, delighting onlookers and giving fresh meat to the urban myth that the carnivorous critters are living below the Big Apple.

The scaly spectacle began just after 3 p.m., when a passersby spotted the reptile on Newtown Avenue near 29th Street and yelled "Crocodile!" One witness said the alligator crawled out of a drain during this afternoon's downpour.

Cops couldn't verify that the animal crawled from the sewers — a big-city myth that inspired the 1980 B-movie "Alligator," and others — but were baffled as to where it came from.

"It's a big mystery," said police spokesman Officer James Duffy. "It could have been dumped from a car or it could have come out of a sewer."

The police Emergency Service Unit lassoed the animal and bound its snout with tape. The caged gator was kept at the 114th Precinct until it was picked up by Animal Care & Control.

A spokesman for animal control said the alligator would be taken to a licensed rehabilitator or reptile sanctuary.

Sharks off Rockaway?

The animal rescuers

Weiner gored by goat

From the Daily News:

The Hill is reporting (and sharing this picture, which I hope they don't mind my borrowing) that Rep. Anthony Weiner was gored by a goat during a press conference earlier today.

Bobbi & the Strays seeks new building

From NBC 4:

"Throw us a bone!" a Queens animal shelter begs.

Bobbi and the Strays, home currently to 23 cats and 25 dogs, is looking for a new building because its shelter for large dogs is slated for demolition.

The animal shelter currently has two buildings: one at Atlas Mall in Queens for the cats and smaller dogs, and a building near the airport for the larger dogs.

The nonprofit no-kill animal rescue organization also provides educational programs to schools and the community, educating children and adults on responsible pet ownership and organizing spay/neuter services and events.

To learn how you can help, click here.

Firehouse on chopping block rescues 30 pets from fire

From the Daily News:

Firefighters stormed into a burning Queens pet shop on Monday in time to rescue 30 cats and dogs, officials said.

U.S. Pet Discounts on Steinway St. in Astoria was closed for Memorial Day, which presented responding units with an obstacle - the store's metal "rolldown" doors were closed.

"We had to cut the gates, cut the locks and force our way in," said Lt. Jerome Farrell of Ladder 116.

Once inside, Ladder 116 firefighters were hit with heavy smoke, but they quickly found the source of the blaze, in the back of the store, Farrell said.

Members of Engine 262 fought the flames, while other firefighters, including those from the newly arrived Engine 263, grabbed animal cages and rushed the frightened animals out into the fresh air.