Well good evening, I'm Senator David Carlucci wanna Thank you for joining me. we were a little late. We're having some technical difficulties but now we're here so thank you for joining us. It's a it's a Wednesday May thirteenth and we're doing this because we wanna keep you up to date with what's happening in the community and we have a special guest with me tonight but before we introduce her, I wanted to give everyone an update. first, I wanna make sure that you know that even though our office. Physically close our phone line is open and you can reach me at eight 45623627 and or email me at Carlucci at NY Senate dot Gov. also you can get text updates at just text the word carlucci to 797979 again text the word carlucci to 797979 to get updates on your phone on in terms of what's happening. In our community and around our state, so there's been a lot of updates, but also I wanna encourage everyone. We do a senior advisory Committee and we're gonna the next one is gonna be tomorrow. That's Thursday, May fourteenth at four PM. so please call me and RSVP if you'd like to be involved with that. we've had some great meetings even though we're all practicing social distancing, we are communicating and talking about the issues affecting seniors, so we've had some really productive. Meetings so I encourage you to please join me tomorrow, but please RSVP to our office and we'll give you the contact information to log in to our senior advisory Committee meeting today, the New York State Senate and the Assembly held a joint hearing of via Zoom and we had it was on the economic response to Covid- 19, so we had many small business owners and associations and trade groups talk about the issues facing them and I got to ask. And questions and talk about some of the things that I've been working on and things that we've been talking about at these town halls over the past past couple of months and so we got into that and I'm hopeful that important legislation will come from the hearing that we had today. we got to talk about something that has been overlooked and that's the unemployment insurance rate that employers will have to be paying something called an experience rating so now that people have been let go. Our have been scaled back that their experience would go up, meaning they'd have to pay higher premiums, so we wanna avoid that. and that was one of the topics that we spoke about today as well as many other topics as well. I know many of you are still waiting to hear from the Department of Labor in regards to unemployment claims please do contact my office. it's been very frustrating and I we can at least make sure that. In the queue that you will be responded to and make sure that that claim is filed. Also we've had questions about the stimulus check and there are many people that are still not received this stimulus check and that could be for a multitude of reasons, but please do call me so that we can advocate for you and make sure that you get that checked. we now have in New York State 330 - eight thousand over 330 - eight thousand positive cases of covid-. Over 12 and a half thousand cases in Westchester over 31400 cases and unfortunately, we've seen close to now 600 deaths here in Rockland and almost 1400 deaths in Westchester County. so this is just been something that has hit us all personally and we all know someone unfortunately that's been lost to covid- 19 but I wanted to quickly get to our guests tonight because we're we're very excited. we have with us. Anne Marie, a gaudio who is the President. Of the Humane Society of the Hudson Valley Humane Society and the Hudson Valley Humane Society became incorporated back in February, 1890 - one as the Rockland County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals and now more than a hundred and 22 years later, a thousands of and thousands of animals later they continue to serve the Hudson Valley region and I've been able to to work with Anne Marie and her team over the years and have been able to visit their facility and know about the good work That they do. But we've been hearing a lot about record numbers of adoptions. we've had a lot of concerns about our pets and our animals and so it's great to have a Marie with us tonight. So thanks for joining us, we really appreciate it. Senator Thanks for the opportunity. It's always a pleasure to chat with you. so thank you and so you know you're the you're the expert and I know you have a deep commitment to our animals in the Hudson Valley and and and really everywhere. And so what what are some of the things that are most concerning to? Right now, or maybe before we get into that, maybe just tell us about what's been going on with the adoptions for animals in the Hudson Valley. We've heard about that they've been really impressive numbers. maybe you can give us some insight into that sure many of the humane societies and various shelters in and around New York State period have encouraged and they've been successful in doing so. I mean, let's face it. you've got people. They have the time it gives them another reason to get up in the morning and take care of take care of a living creature, which is wonderful. we've changed our procedure to modify safety for our staff. safety for our personnel is paramount to us as well as to our animals, So our adoption process has been modified and it's working really well so we continue to actively adopt which is great and we're getting from all over the state. And what what have you modified what's changed from the normal process to now what have you had to do So Senator if you called me and said, hey, Anne Marie. I'm looking to adopt a new family member. We would generally have you come in and schedule an appointment and have you come in. We will talk to you about the type of an animal. you're looking for learn about your lifestyle. your household units. you have young children. you know. do you have elderly folks living with you? What's the dynamic in your home and then based on our knowledge of the personalities and the breed and the types of animals we have we would make a recommendation and then you might need. 12345 of these animals instead of doing it that way we now have that opportunity to talk to you by phone and through email and we'll send you our adoption application as our step one and we basically take all the guess work out. We're only going to have you come in If we really feel confident that we have an animal that meets the criteria for you and your family and then this way you come in and we really have a productive meeting otherwise, if we don't have, let's say you say to me, I really need a hypo. There's a family member who's absolutely allergic and we don't have any hypoallergenic dogs at the time or animals at the time we won't have you come in, but we will certainly keep you on our list. So if we do get a candidate like that, you know you'd be the first person that we call so is there any you know unique, maybe or animals that it's just a hard to get them adopted or anybody or you're trying to get adopted. now, you know I don't think that any animal is hard to adopt. I think it's a matter of patience and you know we give animals all the time that they. We recently adopted a blue coonhound that we had one week shy of three years that is not a new record for us, but we did have to find the right family for her and we found this lovely couple who only rescues blue Coonhounds they fell in love with her. I mean she was absolutely darling and gorgeous, but you know this type of a breed is need a special owner. You have to really understand the dog's. And and she went on happily ever after so to us to us at the Hudson Valley Humane Society. It's not hard. It's just a matter of patience time and finding that right match and how about in terms of I know what you guys really work on is when an animal is surrendered. how is that process been going? have you seen any increase in that? yes, you know we we've always you know what we've come to learn. everyone knows that when the economy takes a hit we we see that you're. Your work increases luckily, though, in this, we've seen the adoptions go up but tell us about what's going on with with the surrendering of animals, we're seeing we're seeing surrendering and we're seeing abandonment, which just breaks our heart. There is never a reason to abandon an animal. There's always a shelter. There's always a solution. There's always a way to avoid that that should never happen and frankly, it's against the law, but we've been dealing with it. we are getting. I just had a heartbreaking conversation with the Gentleman, who's 40 - one year old wife passed away from this virus. she worked in she works in a nursing home and unfortunately she became ill and she did not and tragically she did not survive as a result, if that wasn't enough heartache for this gentleman to endure as a result, he's now a needing to find a new place to live where he can afford and he's not finding many options that would. Him to have a dog and the dog he has. this is large. I'm gonna guess you know, 70 -, five pounds and greater, so there are other you know there are other problems for him to find housing so his choice is to surrender the dog to us and entrust that to us and and frankly, you know we will have no problem placing that dog as a matter of fact, we're ready to talk to one or two potential homes for this dog so that in and of itself. Passing and leaving their animals behind with no with nothing in place for them, you know we always encourage people. you know, for instance, if you're gonna adopt a parent, an animal who could live 50 6075 years, you really must make provisions for this animal, but at any age and any pet, you really need to make provisions. you can't presume that you know your niece, nephew kids your son, your daughter gonna take the path so we. And receiving a number of animals from people who are either dying from the virus, or just from other natural causes, And then we are getting the the animals who've been abandoned. Sadly we've helped people avoid surrendering animals because they've lost their job. you know they would call and say I just can't afford the food. I can't afford the litter and the cat food. It's this that and so what we've done is we've been providing that to these folks on a temporary basis so that's the. And it keeps the family it keeps them intact and and that's wonderful. That's just really rewarding. Yeah. now we've seen cases of animals. You know the real famous one was the Tigers at the Bronx Zoo that tested positive and we were hearing cases where pets have shown symptoms of of covid-. 19. They've tested positive have you seen any of that? we're where you guys are and have you taken steps to isolate In a different way than you would have been doing already we've we've not seen any evidence of that fortunately, but, for instance, with this particular dog coming in knowing that it's owner did pass from this virus. The owner was hospitalized for I think the gentleman said 27 days so I'm I'm less concerned that there was immediate contact. We're gonna do a standard 10 minimum 10 day quarantine for this dog. we don't necessarily have a true isolation. You know there's a separate air and ventilation system. We don't have the luxury of that at our facility, but this is inspired us to potentially take one of our quarantine runs and convert it to a true isolation unit. so we'll have that dog come in and we will handle it like we would any animal who has a potential illness. We will be completely covered in protective gear, it would be. And we'll watch that animal for a minimum of 10 days and follow the guidelines set by the CDC and the the the incredible people up in Cornell University. so we have heard cases now that everyone is sheltering in place really stuck in their homes. We've heard the horror stories of increase in domestic violence even in in child abuse. what are we seeing in terms of cruel animal cruelty? animal cruelty is a part of domestic violence and we as the folks who do the animal cruelty investigations. we are seeing an increase of calls. you know I as I said, there's never. there's no excuse for this behavior, but we are we are seeing more complaints come through and perhaps that's because people are sheltering in place and they are keenly aware of what's going on around so we are doing. It's called welfare checks, we will go out to a location that's been reported to us and we will do a welfare check on these animals and at the same time you know we pay close attention to the the people living there. I'm pretty sure you're aware of our partnership with the Center for Safety and Change. You know if we feel that you know if we see evidence of concern for the people living there, we certainly engaged those folks and encourage the people to give them a call so we have. Of those resources in place that we can refer people to as well. Alright okay, that's great and we were talking earlier about before we came on the program and we were talking about the concern of the rise in stray cats and maybe you can tell us a little bit about that what's going on and this is something we're always concerned about what's happening now. Well, you know what's making the problem worse is if we are sheltering in place, then all of those wonderful volunteers who go out and trap and what's called TNR trap Neuter and return. Ferrell feral cats back to their their territory. These folks are sheltering in place. therefore, they can't go out and set traps and be Mobile. So what's happening. We're having we're gonna be having a huge increase in the number of litters born outside. So I'm expecting and we're we're anticipating the population is gonna grow exponentially as a result, we also had a relatively mild. And in a relatively mild winter, you're going to have you're just going to have more births as a result, it's unfortunate but now we're starting to see we're starting to see some TNR efforts come back to life through some of the rescue groups but again it's limited because it's it's very it's few and far between who could really go out and do this work just a few weeks ago, we had our first TNR clinic for cats hosted at our facility with the Tara the animal. Their Mobile truck came and we had 30 - three of feline patients go through that clinic that is probably less than 50 percent of what we should have had during the month of May in any previous year. So yeah that's concerning. and what are what are some of the side effects of this for us that don't aren't really aware understand when you have an increase in the feral cats What are some of the side effects of that where you're going to have greater? You're gonna have more births and unfortunately you're going to have greater animal suffering cuz they're not all going to survive and if the if they they some of them are gonna perish in a den. some of them will perish by being you know taken by wildlife and you're just going to have an increased population and the population can increase. So, let's let's say you have a pair of cats who mate and mom gives birth to for ease of math, Five kittens those five kittens when they grow up if they are not spayed and neutered before they're six months of age, they can make and have kittens have litters of their own. Let's say in those five kittens, you've got two females. so it's just be let's just be prudent two females out of those five they made with their siblings. Is entirely possible to happen. Most people think they are surprised by that, but it happens and then they have offspring. They have five kittens. now. you've got 10 more kittens right so you keep doing the math in the course of a year that pair is going to generate quite a few offspring and it's really critical for the health of the stray cat population in the community, cats that we do keep keep ahead and make sure that they're healthy, they're vaccinated and that they are. And Neer so that they can't reproduce and we can put a stop and you know checks and balances in it. Yeah interesting the a question has come in and asking about veterinarian offices that are they open and if not where should owners take their pets in an emergency well in an emergency? you know, we have a very good fortune of having access to a number of 20 - 47. Facilities the the Hudson Valley Humane Society frequently uses the Veterinary Emergency Group on Route 59 in Nanette. we also are go to facility is the Animal Medical Center in Manhattan. We realize that's not necessarily convenient for everybody, but it is convenient for us. We have we can transport to them relatively easily but the Valley Cottage in Valley Cottage Animal Hospital on what is that route 3033 with that. Thank you yes, I think they're they're 20 - 47. I think that's been modified, but there's still a wonderful facility. Orel is not that far from us blue pearls not that far, so there are a number of 20 - 47 in case you have an emergency to answer your question about the the regular veterinary offices they are operating they have modified their procedures so many of the vets that were in touch with would have their clients come to their parking lot call their main number. And say hi, I'm here with fluffy you-know-who whomever they they have an appointment for and then they would have the staff from the vet hospital comes out and takes the pet into the hospital and rather than having the owner of the The and the person be with their with their animal to the vet would then get on the phone and call and discuss problems. complaints concerns etcetera they have been putting a hiatus on a simple procedures. That aren't necessarily critical like basic vaccines. they can wait. you know, it's not absolutely critical but if you have others more serious concerns like I had an emergency with my dog, you know, I was absolutely taken so people's people should what they should do is proactively call their veterinarian. not wait for that emergency call the vet and say you know doctors you know get in touch with the doctor's office and find out what is your procedure? You operating how would I come in If I needed to bring my pet in on for a basic appointment, and then let them answer because each facility is is doing something a little bit differently. You know that works for them, so I would absolutely recommend them being proactive make that phone call and they should also be proactive and know where is the nearest emergency facility to where they live. You'd be surprised how many people don't know where the nearest facility is and they have. Have that handy I know the last time I I visited the the Humane Society of Hudson Valley Humane Society. You had so many different animals there and I was really surprised and you have a beautiful place there and then what what are some of the unique animals that you have there now are is there any any anybody anyone that really stands out? probably Wilbur is our big hit. He is our 13 year-old pig that we have who is just one of our dear love. Of our lives at the Hudson Valley Humane Society, we have our flock of Ducks who are enjoying our ponds as we speak, they're probably out there paddling around having a great time. we have quite a collection of some reptiles. so we've got some turtles and we actually have some baby snapping turtles will be released later this later this year but we we have a lovely I think it's a lion head baby bunny. I'm not sure I'm no bunny expert. I do think so I do think it's a lion head just a few months old less than four months old found you know discarded on the Street by by some utility workers and I'll tell you those guys have been champions. They've been they've been calling us saying. Hey, we found a kitten out of the side of the road. We found this funny at the side of the road and facilitate getting it to us to safety. so they really they've got hearts of gold but so we have this little bunny who's looking for. adoption and it's absolutely darling and today we just adopted a mikan cockatoo. she's only she only has one leg but she was adopted and she actually went to to live near Buffalo, New York. So that's how our adoption how far our adoption reach is is going we have we actually have a couple of Massachusetts interested in adopting two of our dogs, but to answer your question about the most unique, I think I think WB Besar most unique guy on our property. But he's not available. He's not available for adoption so forget it. He's just he's great. I love keeping him forever. Yeah, I I I was always I was so impressed that the the you know the variety of the animals there, but you don't often see in in Rockland County. so it's really cool. You never know what you're gonna see in our place. You just never know you know. yeah. so you know when you talk about the utility workers you know letting you know they they saw an animal and they have referred them to you. So what what advice do you have to someone that does CNN? I know you work closely with our animal control officers in the town what is that relationship like and then also what should someone do if they see an animal that doesn't belong out there in the wild? Sure again, I always recommend being proactive you wanna know who these resources are before you really need them. Okay. we had a call just I think it was yesterday the days are going so quickly Senator give me hope you had a. We had an injured and injured Raptor and you know where do they go who handles those well. There are licensed rehabilitator who specialized in those types of animals. People are always welcome to call us. You can reach us 20 - 47 but if you know if you know these resources like the GEC you know have that phone number handy. So in case you have an injured Bird or you. You've got something special, you find a bunny and you and you say, Gee this little White and beige Bunny doesn't look like it belongs outside. you're right. That's a domestic animal. you can call us for by all means it's eight 453543124. people are always welcome to call us, but if they do know that they have propensity to find wildlife on their properties here in Rockland, we've got some magnificent wildlife. Who you resources are so the New York State Dec the main number you just be you ask for who's working in Rockland County that day and they've got experts to help. I mean there are resources for funds who are abandoned, But I'll put a big fat asterisk on that. we're getting a number of calls people saying there's this Moma laying down in my yard. What do I do? Do you do not thing you leave her alone. She's gonna give like we give birth to her phone and many people think. You know forms they they're gonna get up like horses in a minute on the contrary, they don't do that just be patient with them, but that's that's a perfect answer for you know the resources. What do you do and we have a great post that's been actually seen by literally millions of people on our Facebook page that deals with forms and what to do if you have that beautiful experience at your home of you know a mom giving birth there. it's it's all. Being proactive, Senator Yeah, I know you know I've lived in the Rockland my whole life. I live a mile down the road from where I grew up in New City and as a kid, you know the as a kid, I never saw a deer in the community in New City. and now I mean I Yeah, and I mean I'm 39 years old so just like 30 years ago, I never saw a year not in the neighborhood. Okay and now you know you see him all the time every day you know. I have many deer and it's. But it's just an interesting thing how I've seen that evolve over the years. I know parts of our County have always had the year but now we just much more prevalent particularly in in in that area where I see them all the time and I don't think this is I'm more observant cuz I was always you know I was out walking around playing outside as a kid, but you just never saw him well. I think part of the reason is you know as we continue to encroach and have more homes built and more businesses build we have less. Where they can be separate from us, so we're you know our community is merging a greater and so we're seeing a lot more wildlife and now that you mentioned that you mentioned the wildlife. It's probably a good time to bring this up. We're noticing an increase in coyotes and raccoon and I was talking to members of our staff. the other day we're thinking about you know why why are we seeing this? Why a whys you know? Why are we getting these notifications? That we're hearing in the Coyotes have taken you know a kitten or someone's pet small dog, and why is it happening? One theory is that with so many of their food sources having vanish or shrunk, for instance, it's not uncommon to see a raccoon in a dumpster behind a Strip mall that has a restaurant right right right, but but those restaurants aren't operating so this food scraps that would be in those dumpsters are not available so there are. Looking for food, that was one theory that we came up with and that might very well be the case why we're seeing more coyotes and we might be seeing more coyotes too just because they're becoming healthier in our in their own population, which says you know we haven't screwed up our environment so badly that we can have wildlife so this it's just an interesting thing that we're all observing this more and more and it's part of the community that that we have the luxury of. With all this beautiful wildlife, so what is the most common call that you guys get? it's like the classic. Depends on what time of the year Okay now the coil is I've got a baby born at the back of my House. What do I do? It's been abandoned. It hasn't been abandoned. You know, mom's walking away feeding and don't touch it Don't assisted in any way because it has no sense. It can't be found by a predator once a human gets involved that animal is now at risk. if you had asked me that question you know next month. I tell you probably people finding little kittens you know underneath the shrubs and bushes because now they're really coming out of their tents and drugs. it's so different times of the year. It's gonna be different animals that people would be calling about but right now, it's it's all about the forms and we're really coming into kitten season. So we've been hearing a lot about the the giant Asian Hornet the murder murder, Horne and And so it just brings that topic up about invasive species and that you've seen here in the Lower Hudson Valley anything that we need to be concerned about in terms of invasive species and the only species that you know we deal with on a regular basis that is invasive or Red or slider turtles that you know people get you know when they're maybe the size of a 50 cent piece and and Them for their children and you know they no longer want them as a pet or you know the kid is now grown and going off to College and people think Oh, let me just put it in one of the lakes Bad news. That's not where they belong. They belong in a rescue and you know we really wish people would stop selling them and stop buying them because they are an invasive species and something has to change about that. and it really has to change. you know animals. Don't have bar codes on them and they shouldn't be sold. You know period from our perspective, but when you do introduce an invasive species that just doesn't make any sense because now all the all the other species are taking a nose dive by their presence. I did hear about you know some of the bodies of water in Central Park are really loaded with these Red air sliders many of the many of the reptiles that we have available at the humane. For adoption, or in fact, ready and sliders that people could no longer care for them, We didn't wanna care for any how big that we can they get. I don't know the answer how big they ultimately get we have them from you know three inches in diameter to seven or eight inches in diameter and thankfully, one of our one of our 18 personnel, I believe you met her name is Natasha. She is such a valuable asset. She knows she would be the person to answer your question about turtles in general. She's such an expert there. so I'll have to ask her and get back to you. Okay great. the other question I wanted to ask about the we we did mention we we briefly talked about the cod with our pets. do you know, are there symptoms that people should be looking for with our pets in terms of if you know, we're all very concerned about Covid- 19, and of course to be able to diagnose them, You know we've heard extensively about what to look for ourselves and for our family, but how about for our pets? you know, I'm I'm not a veterinarian. so I'm gonna tell you my answer would be all about common sense if you think that there's something not right about your dog or your cat or your Bird or your bunny. Call your veterinarian Trust your veterinarian and have. Least a phone conversation with them about what's going on and what you what you're observing and pay attention to what you observing very very often if you can capture symptoms on a on a brief video that you could forward to a veterinarian that's incredibly helpful and can expedite whether the decision is do you need to get that animal in or it doesn't seem like it's much of anything to be concerned with but I again, I would just refer people to. Using common sense, good hygiene and and not and not get too crazy about you know under a microscope and worrying about everything is gonna be you know, let's not panic in any way but talk to your veterinarian. If you sincerely see a change in your animal, that's the person you need to chat with and they're always available by phone. We have the greatest community of veterinary specialists. I don't know how we. So blessed and so lucky, but we really do here in the Lower Hudson Valley and in New York in general, we just have the best veterinary care. Hey, that's good to know that's good to know what so how can the average person? How can they support the Hudson Valley Humane Society? Oh, that's that's really nice of you to ask. we are a private Organization. We're not funded. We're not a municipal shelter, so we rely on the kindness of a generous donors who. And believe in our mission and our mission is that of animal welfare we rely on volunteerism right now, our volunteer staff is you know bare bones because of the cove virus so we've scaled back on that. but hopefully when we're in a healthier environment, I know our faithful volunteers will come back, but we could always use more volunteers we are going to be needing some kitten VN. Tears to help bottle feed because that's just exploding. So if you'd like to volunteer, they're more than welcome to send us an email at HV HS N Y at online dot net and request a volunteer application in the absence of being able to volunteer honestly a donation would be tremendous. We average 15 to $20000 every month in veterinary just veterinary expenses and we get. Services at a discount, so you know we're just not. We're just not spending money. you know Willy nilly this. this is really important work that we're getting done so that would be that would be lovely if someone wanted to help support us. that's great and so before we end I I really appreciate your time and being generous with that tonight and answering these questions. what what did we not talk about that you that you want people to know about. Is there anything that we missed that the. People should know I think the I always like to reinforce to people that if you think there's some behavior is happening somewhere with an animal that you don't think is appropriate. Okay. You don't have to know the laws about what are the laws on the books are for law enforcement and animal cruelty. Trust your instincts, trust your gut if it doesn't seem right Call our Organization. Poured it and we'll go out and send one of our agents to do a welfare. Check. There's no harm no foul and we just we really need people to have you know eyes in the community and to report that so it's they can either call us at eight 453543124 or email us at report cruelty at HV Humane dot ORG and we'll be doing you know we'll absolutely dispatch one of our agents to go out and do that welfare. check. That's probably the most important message. that I could express to our community and I and again if it weren't for you giving us this platform this opportunity Senator I I just can't Thank you enough. Oh well. Thank you and any information you have. you want us to get out there. We'll try to get it out on our emails and other methods. I know the good work that you guys do so. I'm grateful to you for doing that and your team of so many volunteers that help out and really go above and beyond and put in countless hours. For because they really have a passion and our community is better for it. So we really thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's really very kind of you. Oh thank you so we've been talking with Anne-Marie Gaudio, who's the President of the Hudson Valley Humane Society. they do such amazing work so please support them and go to their website and learn more about the good work that they do and I wanna thank everyone who's joined us tonight and please In we're gonna be our next Facebook live event will be next Monday and in between Then as tomorrow we've got our senior advisory Committee. so please call us and join us there. and if you're having a problem if you have a question, you don't know who to call, please call me eight 45623627 and we will help with the problem you're having and then see if it's a bigger issue where we've got a pass a law or do whatever. It takes to help you and other people in our community and around our state. So again, I'm Senator David Carlucci. Thank you for joining me and stay safe.