Animal Rescue Group Needs New Home

JFK VETPORT BUILDING TO BE DEMOLISHED

By Conor Greene

For nearly a decade, a local animal rescue group has used rented space in a non- descript building at JFK Airport to house some of the larger dogs it rescues. Now, after finding out their lease won’t be renewed at the end of the year, the group is desperately seeking the public’s help to raise money for a new building.

Bobbi and the Strays, a Queens-based no kill shelter that rescues dogs and cats, has used the space in JFK’s Vetport for about nine years, paying a modest monthly rent, according to founder Bobbi Giordano. For the past few years, the owners of the Shops at Atlas Park in Glendale have donated space where cats and smaller breeds of dogs are kept.

Earlier this year, the group received the devastating news that the Port Authority plans to raze a series of buildings at the airport, including the one used to house two dozen pit bulls, rottweilers and other large dogs saved from the streets, city Animal Care and Control shelters and owners who no longer can care for them. Bobbi and the Strays has since kicked off a fundraising effort in hopes of garnering enough support to buy a building in the area.

“Everything we’ve looked at, we can’t afford,” said Giordano. “We’re at a standstill. The lease is up on December 31st, and I don’t know what is going to happen. We heard rumors there might be an extension, but we haven’t seen anything in writing.”

So far, donations large and small have been coming in from friends and other supporters of the group. A Halloween party at a local bar also proved successful, said Giordano.

If the group finds itself without a home for the larger dogs come January 1, they will be placed with local vets and with foster families. “I’m not giving them to another shelter,” said Giordano. “You get close to them, we spend time with them, and we have very good volunteers that put a lot into them.”

“We’re an absolute no kill shelter,” said Giordano. “We do home checks, take them off the streets, from nursing homes, from people who die, and look for homes for them, do their medical, spay, neuter, shots. We really go the extra miles.” Of course, even in their current situation, space is always an issue. “As soon as one goes out, another two come in, that’s just the way it is,” she said.

In their quest to raise enough money for a new building, Giordano said that any donation, no matter how small, is welcomed. “You can send a dollar, five dollars, that would really help. It’s a long way off, but if everybody in Queens sent in a dollar or two, we would have the money.”

In the meantime, volunteers and staff members have tried to keep the possibility they will be scrambling to find space for the rescued dogs out of their minds. “We rely heavily on that building – without it we would not be able to take in those animals,” said Laura Miller, who manages the shelter at the Vetport. “We save a lot [of dogs] by having that space there.”

Without that space, the group would have to immediately find a foster family for any dog it rescues, explained Miller. “Here, we can take them in right away… We need to raise the money. There is no other option in my mind. We’re on a mission and are going to raise the money.”

Anybody who wishes to contribute to the building foundation can mail a check directly to Bobbi and the Strays at PO Box 170129, Ozone Park, NY, 11417. For more information, check their website at bobbiandthestrays.

Please Help Penelope!

Crippled by a broken leg that was set incorrectly, 12-week-old Penelope was recently abandoned by her owner. She is now under the care of volunteers at Bobbie & the Strays in Glendale, who are trying to raise $3,500 for surgery needed to fix her limb.

A woman was playing with her English Bulldog in a local park recently when she was approached by Penelope’s owner, who asked if the dogs could play. She then asked the woman if she would watch Penelope for a minute, and never returned for the mutt.

Bobbie & the Strays, based in the Shops at Atlas Park mall, have already collected hundreds of dollars from shoppers, according to Phyllis Taiano. It appears that her leg was broken and then reset incorrectly, leaving her only able to use three legs. As a result, she has to hold up the bad leg while she runs and gets tired quickly.

A specialist is needed to operate on Penelope’s leg, which needs a plate and screws in order to gain full range of motion. The rescue group can’t afford to pay for the operation, but they are hoping shoppers and the public take pity and donate a few dollars. Penelope will then be available for adoption, hopefully giving her a normal life after being abandoned.

Donations can be made in person at the shopping center or by mailing to:

The Shops at Atlas Park - Bobbi & the Strays
71-03 80th Street, Glendale, NY 11385
Memo: Pennies for Penelope Fund
For details, call Phyllis Taiano at (646) 361-0163