Little Shelter’s Cross Country Run Saves 30 Pups

Little Shelter made a rescue mission to Texas where they saved 30 puppies from probable euthanization.

By Sophia Ricco
sricco@longislandergroup.com

Little Shelter Animal Rescue and Adoption Center welcomed the arrival of 30 tail-wagging puppies all the way from South Texas where they were facing euthanization.

With its mission to save at risk animals, Little Shelter stepped up to rescue the pups after Texas Best Choices Animal Rescue officials asked for their assistance. The rescue group had saved the puppies from other municipal shelters in South Texas where they were likely to be euthanized, but could not house all they rescued.

“Local rescue is always our primary mission at Little Shelter,” executive director David Ceely said. “But we’re painfully aware of what animal control is like in the south and we have the ability to help those animals. We feel since we have the ability, we actually have the responsibility to help them.”

Little Shelter sent its assistant manager and a volunteer to South Texas to pick up the pups. “It took about four days for the entire trip, but once the dogs were in the van, they had to make a bee-line back to Long Island,” Ceely said.  “They were able to stop a few times and walk the dogs on the way back.”

A Little Shelter volunteer cradles one of 30 puppies rescued from euthanization in South Texas last month.

The van pulled in on Friday, May 24, and Little Shelter staff was ready to greet the new arrivals. The puppies are being held for a two-week quarantine in isolation rooms, allowing them to be medically and behaviorally evaluated before they are introduced to other animals. Ceely is confident all find a home, describing them as cute, friendly, and healthy. A majority are lab mixes, ranging from 12 weeks to six months old.

“If there’s a sick animal at risk, it’s one thing, but to see these healthy puppies that were at risk, it was another thing,” Ceely said. “We knew we could get these friendly puppies into homes very quickly.”

Ceely said shelters in the south have a different perspective on euthanization. Many put down young, healthy dogs, he said

“It’s not unlikely that a municipal shelter down there will put a six month old puppy into the gas chamber. It really is all based on space,” Ceely said. “If they run out of space and a certain animal has been there for a few months, even a puppy, it will be put to sleep.”

Little Shelter’s no-kill mission extends across the country. “Whether it’s on Long Island or New York City or Texas, our mission is to pull animals out of high-kill shelters and bring them to a no-kill shelter,” Ceely said. “We want to get them off the euthanization list.”

Little Shelter hopes the public will help, through adoption, fostering, donating or volunteering. Find out how at littleshelter.com, or visit at 33 Warner Rd, Huntington.

“When you adopt from a shelter you save two lives,” Ceely said. “The life of the animal that you adopt and one that gets to go into the kennel space that’s freed up.”

Suozzi In Normandy Honors The Fallen

US. Rep. Tom Suozzi laid wreaths at the graves of local service members buried in the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, France, as part of a delegation marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island, Queens) honored service members who made the ultimate sacrifice during a trip to Normandy, France to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Allied D-Day Invasion there. Suozzi and other members of a Congressional delegation paid tribute in ceremonies with President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron to honor those lost during the Battle of Normandy.

“This experience was truly sobering and humbling,” Suozzi said. “Seventy-five years later, the sacrifice made on the altar of Normandy must be remembered and revered. These brave souls demand that we earn the sacrifice they made by lifting up our freedom and our democracy and participating in our politics and government in a way that is more noble.”

While in Normandy, Suozzi visited the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer and paid his respects to the 21 soldiers from the 3rd Congressional District who are interred there. Suozzi laid wreaths at the grave of Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., son of President Theodore Roosevelt; at the graves of 15 soldiers; and at the “Tablets of the Missing,” which memorialize the five soldiers who are listed as missing in action.

At Roosevelt’s grave Suozzi said a prayer of thanksgiving and spread a handful of dirt he had brought with him from Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt’s childhood home in Oyster Bay. Roosevelt was, like his father, a Medal of Honor recipient.

“At age 56, General Roosevelt was the oldest soldier in the D-Day invasion and the only general to land by sea with the first wave of troops,” Suozzi said. “Using a cane due to arthritis, Gen. Roosevelt calmly urged his troops on amidst the incredible attacks. He survived D-Day but succumbed to a heart attack five weeks later.

“Years later, when Gen. Omar Bradley was asked, ‘what was the bravest thing you ever saw in your military career?’ he responded, ‘Ted Roosevelt on the beach in Normandy.’”

Suozzi also visited Sainte-Mère-Église, the first French village to be liberated by the Allies after D-Day. There he met the mayor, Jean Quétier, and presented him with a flag that flew over the US Capitol.

Sainte-Mere-Eglise’s relationship with Locust Valley.sparked the “sister city” movement.

Sainte-Mère-Église is the sister city of Locust Valley, part of the congressman’s district. The relationship came about in 1944 when Life magazine ran a photo of the wife of the mayor of Ste-Mère-Église placing flowers on the grave of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. The photo inspired Locust Valley residents to adopt the village as a “sister city.” They sent supplies to the war-ravaged village, and started a movement that would continue to grow.

Within a year, nearly 200 American cities had followed Locust Valley’s lead, adopting sister cities all over the world.

In 1956, President Eisenhower officially formed Sister Cities International.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, right, and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, left, met with Susan Eisenhower who presented the congressmen with medals recognizing their efforts to promote the history of the Normandy invasion.

Suozzi also visited the Normandy Institute, an international educational residence with a mission to foster understanding and inspiration from the historic events of D-Day. There he met with Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who presented both Suozzi and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry with medals recognizing their efforts in promoting the history of D-Day and the Normandy Invasion.

THE FALLEN
The following service members from the Third Congressional District are interred at the American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France.

Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Oyster Bay, 4th Infantry Division
Pvt. Charles Byrnes, Hicksville, 116th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
Pvt. Walter Dawiskiba, Locust Valley, 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division
Pvt. First Class Lawrence Hills, Huntington, 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division

Pvt. Edmund Kawiecki, Port Washington, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
1st Lieut. Harry Koeppel, Locust Valley, 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division
Pvt. Walter Korrow, Jericho, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
Pvt. First-Class Chester Nakelski, Port Washington, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
Tech. Sgt. Walter Newman, Port Washington, 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division
Pvt. First-Class Chester Puchalski, Glen Head, 13 Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division
Pvt. First-Class James Rice, Great Neck, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division
Technician Fifth Grade Ralph Spiezia, Huntington Station, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
Technician Fifth Grade Andrew Stuckey, Manhasset, 802nd Tank Destroyer Battalion
Technician Fifth Grade Kenneth Geiler, Queens Village, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division

Pvt. First-Class Rudolph Stalzer, Kings Park, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
Tech. Sgt Igor Vassilieff, Great Neck, 1141st Engineer Combat Group

Tablets of the Missing
at American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France

Lt. John Behrens, Whitestone, US Navy
Lt. JG Joseph Capelli, Whitestone, US Naval Reserves
Coxswain Edward De Bias, East Northport, US Naval Reserves
Pvt. Annella Miranda, Huntington, 749th Tank Battalion
Cpl. Gustave Norell, Hicksville, 749th Tank Battalion 

Elija Farm To Be Farmland Forever

The Town and County have acquired development rights Elija Farm in South Huntington guaranteeing it will remain undeveloped in perpetuity.

By Peter Sloggatt
psloggatt@longislandergroup.com

Elijah Farm will be farmland in perpetuity.

Owners of the 6-1/2 acre farm in South Huntington are closing a deal for the town and county to jointly future purchase development rights for the property. The transaction will guarantee the farm will remain just that and not be sold for housing or otherwise developed.

The property was part of a 10-plus acre farm  owned by Larry Foglia and Heather Forest  who still live and farm on the remaining acreage. “Leftover hippies,” according to Foglia, the husband-wife team sold the larger portion to Elija Farm which leased another two acres and operates a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project. The CSA provides employment to autistic adults.

Foglia’s father originally bought the farm in 1963 after moving from Nassau County. in addition to raising vegetables, the family specialized in growing perennial day lilies, and hostas for the floral industry. Foglia acquired the additional acreage more recently and switched from nursery to CSA.

Foglia consults on agriculture and environmental issues and his search for stewards to continue farming the land led him the Elija CSA which operates a larger farm in Levittown.

The Huntington town board last week approved a lot line change to separate the two properties. Funding for the purchase comes from the county’s 1/4-cent sales tax surcharge and Huntington’s environmental preservation fund.

“The goal was to preserve the property,”Foglia said. “Now it is farmland in perpetuity. M9IyI=