Farmingville, NY – Supervisor Mark Lesko and Councilwoman Jane Bonner has announced that the Easter Bunny will make a special appearance at the Brookhaven Animal Shelter on Saturday, April 7 from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. The Easter Bunny will be hopping and hoping for new homes for all the orphaned animals this Easter weekend. He’ll also be handing out treats to all the good little dogs and cats who visit. He will be available for pictures with kids and pets. Visitors should bring their own cameras.

“Who better to help promote the Animal Shelter than the Easter Bunny himself,” said Supervisor Lesko, “I urge everyone to visit on Saturday and consider adopting one of the wonderful pets who are in need of a loving home.”

Councilwoman Bonner said “This event is another example of how the Animal Shelter comes up with creative ideas on how to find homes for our furry friends. I hope that the Easter Bunny will encourage people to take home a new four-legged family member to celebrate Easter.”

The Brookhaven Town Animal Shelter has been very progressive in launching programs to increase adoption rates and pet retention and get animals spayed and neutered, especially focusing on the large population of Pit Bulls and Pit Mixes at the Animal Shelter.

Last year, the Animal Shelter introduced “Spay it Forward”, a program that offers incentives to get animals spayed and neutered. For every Pit Bull that a resident gets spayed or neutered, the owner will receive a voucher to help another needy Pit Bull to receive the same services. The Animal Shelter is also providing free micro-chipping, vaccines, heartworm testing, and collars for anyone who gets their Pit Bull spayed or neutered.

The Brookhaven Bully Alliance (BBA) encourages other animal rescues to adopt Pit Bulls from the Brookhaven animal shelter and find homes for them. Every shelter dog that enters the BBA program is professionally evaluated, spayed or neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped. $250 goes to each participating organization for the care of the animal.

Together these programs have helped over 200 Pit Bulls throughout the area.

An affiliate of the Town of Brookhaven Animal Shelter and Adoption Center is The Help the Animals Fund. Their mission is to prevent cruelty to animals and to provide sick, neglected and injured stray animals at the Brookhaven Animal Shelter the much needed and deserved medical care that they would otherwise not receive. This fund is supported 100% by voluntary donations, which are tax deductible. The Help the Animals Fund makes programs like Spay it Forward and the Brookhaven Bully Alliance possible.

The Animal Shelter is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is located at 300 Horseblock Road in Brookhaven, New York, 11719. For more information, call the Brookhaven Animal Shelter and Adoption Center at 631-286-4940 or visit www.brookhaven.org/animalshelter.

Division of Public Information * Office of the Supervisor
One Independence Hill • Farmingville • NY 11738 • Phone (631) 451-6595 • Fax (631) 451-6258