|
RCBJ-Audible (Listen For Free)
 |
Nixie Gueits, Whose Rescue Group Runs The County Shelter, Wants Towns To Ban Other Rescue Groups From Street Fairs
By Tina Traster
For years, Rockland County’s small group of animal activists begged town supervisors to pass legislation to protect feral cat colonies, to use taxpayer money to support spay/neuter for ferals, and to cue up public resources to educate the public.
For years, crickets.
Activists’ plaints fell on deaf ears, even before Rockland County’s legislature. At the time, Town Supervisor Howard Phillips told cat activists Haverstraw “was not in the cat business.” A proposed 2018 Clarkstown Town ordinance to protect feral cat colonies failed after the bill was mired with unrealistic restrictions.
It was nearly impossible for cat lovers to engage town or county officials back then. But these days, animal activists are using a new tactic to be heard: They attend Rockland Green (former Solid Waste Management Authority) meetings to ask for help with a myriad of problems related to domestic animals and feral cat-related problems. They are lobbying for bans on selling guinea pigs at pet stores, help with interference between cat colony managers and property managers that don’t want the cats, and answers about whether the Town of Orangetown will be paying for and participating in the new shelter, given that it now contracts with the Hudson Valley Humane Society.
On Tuesday, at Rockland Green’s public meeting, one speaker asked for Rockland Green to ban adoption groups from taking exhibitor space at street fairs in Rockland County’s municipalities, because they seem to believe all things related to animals falls under the aegis of Rockland Green.
In Jan. 2023, Rockland Green, led by Phillips, assumed the role of animal management for Rockland County after town supervisors agreed to hand over the task, and County Executive Ed Day, leased the shelter site formerly used by Hi Tor to Rockland Green. The quasi-public agency, which runs the former Hi Tor Shelter in Pomona after a hostile takeover in 2023, is building an $18 million shelter (that will cost $40 million over 30 years to satisfy the bond obligation, plus annual operating costs) in the Village of West Haverstraw on Ecology Road. The shelter cast out the former Hi Tor Shelter group in September 2023 and is embroiled in a protracted and costly lawsuit with both sides claiming breach of contract.
Nixie Gueits, who runs Four Legs Good, a cat rescue from her home in New City, was tapped in September 2023 to manage Rockland Green’s animal shelter. Gueits worked behind the scenes for months with Phillips to get her organization installed in the taxpayer-funded shelter. Now she’s asking Rockland Green to ban outside adoption groups from street fairs.
Gueits targeted the Nanuet Chamber of Commerce’s June 1 Street Fair, which included a rescue van with adoptable puppies from Furever Friends Family Rescue of Hopewell Junction. She made a series of unsubstantiated claims to suggest that the rescue group is disreputable, that their animals are not given proper medical care, that prospective adoptees are not vetted. She complained dogs were being adopted for “$1,100 a pop,” and that her “spies” learned that adoptees didn’t need to fill out paperwork – all without providing any proof.
In response, Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann said, “We can’t have that,” adding that the Town of Clarkstown co-sponsors the Chamber’s event. “If Rockland Green wants to have an adoption clinic with vetted animals, that’s okay. But having someone come into the community, we won’t allow it.”
It remains unclear as to whether the Town of Clarkstown can ban a vendor, even an animal rescue, from participating in a street fair while simultaneously allowing Rockland Green to bring its animals to the fair for adoption, or even issue a ban at all. Further, Rockland Green has no power or jurisdiction to enact such a ban or to close adoptions from “outside” rescues.
Bryanna Russo, who owns Furever Friends Family Rescue of Hopewell Junction, told RCBJ by phone that Gueits’ allegations were false and slanderous. She said the private organization’s adoption fees, which range from $500 to $1,100, reflect the amount of medical care, behavioral training, socializing, and adoption preparation that goes into every animal. She explained her rescues do not live in cages; they are typically more socialized than those at shelters because staff works with them all day long.
Russo said adopters at the Nanuet Street Fair were required to fill out a four-page application and were vetted on site by staff who interviewed prospective adoptees. As for the fees, Russo said, “Yes, our adoption fees are higher because our success rate is higher,” she said, adding that typically only one in 100 dogs is returned to their care if an adoption fails.
Gueits also complained that the puppies only had one vaccination, but Russo said at eight weeks old, that was a normal protocol. Gueits also characterized the organization as “puppy flippers,” suggesting these organizations troll the “south” to effectively sell animals. Russo said her organization will sometimes go far and wide to rescue litters of puppies or kittens that are imminently slated to be euthanized at kill shelters.
Furever Friends Family Rescue is a registered rescue and shelter with New York State Ag Markets.
Julianne Williams, who runs Woodwill Corp, in Long Island, books vendors for many of Rockland County’s street fairs. She said the rescue group exhibited at three Rockland County street fairs and has been a big success.
“I’m not aware of any problems,” said Williams. “As far as we know, it went over very well. People were very interested in it. They were very excited to see the puppies. The puppies were in the trailer, but the little kids really loved it.”
Nicole Russodivito, who handles public relations for the Suffern Chamber of Commerce, also said the presence of Furever Friends Family Rescue was an asset, even though the day turned rainy.
“People looked so happy,” she said. “We’ve got lots of cute pictures. We would have them back again.”
