The animated film “The Secret Life of Pets” is slated for worldwide release on Friday, July 8. According to Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures, it’s “a comedy about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day.”

“The Secret Life…” is light-hearted, PG fare. So you undoubtedly will not hear about the secret life of Zaza.

She’s a gorgeous, 2-year-old pit bull mix. What a difference four months make.

Zaza was one of two dogs rescued by officers from Brooklyn’s 63^rd Precinct in April. She was bone-thin when police discovered her living in filthy conditions with another underweight, female pit bull mix. Zaza was suffering from an infection in both ears that caused severe swelling and a skin infection between her toes.

Zaza’s secret life of misery.

But thanks to the work of the NYPD and the ASPCA, and volunteer organizations across the city, innocent animals like Zaza are given a fighter’s chance to survive and eventually make a full recovery – and escort Police Commissioner Bill Bratton around 1 Police Plaza.

Bratton joined the ASPCA last Friday in highlighting the importance of pet adoption by inviting Zaza to join him on the job at NYPD Headquarters for Take Your Dog to Work Day.

“Today’s visit from Zaza highlights the success of the NYPD’s partnership with the ASPCA that has been proven by the countless animals saved throughout New York City,” Bratton said. “The Department’s Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad was created in 2014 to have NYPD detectives lead investigations into animal cruelty cases that has resulted in an increase in arrests and rescues. With the use of the Crime Stoppers program, one of our newest tools to fight animal cruelty, the public can now easily and anonymously provide information about animal abuse.”

Since the partnership launched citywide in January 2014, there have been triple-digit increases in arrests and animals treated.

“The NYPD/ASPCA partnership has saved hundreds of animal victims from suffering in silence,” said Howard Lawrence, vice president, ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement. “It is incredibly important that New Yorkers continue to report animal cruelty and open their hearts and homes to dog and cat cruelty survivors, like Zaza, who deserve a second chance for a loving, stable home.”

Zaza is up for adoption. She’s ready for a light-hearted, PG life.

For more info on pet adoption, visit aspca.org/adopt-pet

By Michael V. Cusenza

The City joined the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals last Friday in spotlighting the 18^th annual Take Your Dog to Work Day.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and the NYPD got into the spirit of the event, which celebrates the companions dogs make and encourages adoptions from local shelters, rescue groups, and humane societies. Bratton invited Zaza, a 2-year-old pit bull mix that was rescued by cops from a Brooklyn building in April, to accompany him during his Friday morning routine and at the department’s promotional ceremony.

Here at The Forum, it seems that every day is Take Your Dog to Work Day. With newshounds like Massimo and Cocoa, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Massimo is always on the job at The Forum…

…as is fellow newsie Cocoa. Forum Photos by Michael V. Cusenza

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com

Eight new NYPD Counterterrorism canines and their partner officers last week graduated training in a ceremony held at the new Police Academy in College Point.

The highly trained officers and their four-legged partners will protect the city by helping to detect explosive devices using the pooches’ sense of smell. The vapor wake dogs, as they are called, will patrol the five boroughs at high-profile locations, as well as other sensitive areas, according to the department.

Cocoa

Congratulations to all the brave dogs and their partners, especially the above chocolate lab, who bears a striking resemblance to The Forum’s own watchful eye, Cocoa.

By Forum Staff

A Jamaica man has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge after eyewitnesses reported seeing him brutally abuse a tiny pit bull mix on numerous occasions last year.

“The defendant has admitted to brutalizing a tiny puppy so much so that people who observed the defendant walking the dog in the neighborhood called authorities to report the abuse. As a result, the defendant will be banned from possessing any animal in the foreseeable future and the little dog is now safe and protected,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Eric Ranger (a.k.a. “E-Bone”), 26, pleaded guilty this week to a charge of misdemeanor animal cruelty and was immediately sentenced to a conditional discharge with the following terms: Ranger is banned from owning an animal for five years and he must register with the city Department of Health as an animal abuser. The registration will prevent city shelters, rescue groups and/or pet stores from permitting the defendant to purchase or adopt a pet.

According to the charges, two different eyewitnesses reported seeing a dark-skinned male with dreadlocks, known as “E-Bone” in the neighborhood, walking what appeared to be a small, dark pit bull mix off-leash. The defendant was seen punching, choking, and kicking the dog between Nov. 17 and Dec. 23 of last year. One of the eyewitnesses stated that later the same afternoon the dog could be heard crying and yelping inside the stairwell of Ranger’s residence. Police reviewed a video made in the third floor hallway at the time of the incident and allegedly did observe Ranger punching and kicking the same small dog.

On Dec. 17, the defendant was seen on video carrying the dog up three flights of stairs by his collar which was around the dog’s neck. In an earlier incident, Ranger had stated that he was trying to set the dog straight. On Dec. 23, when police executed a court-authorized search warrant of Ranger’s Jamaica home, the dog was housed in an upside-down milk crate weighed down with two cases of soda. The dog was compressed inside the milk crate and there was barely any wiggle room for the dog to move at all.

The puppy was surrendered to the ASPCA and is now living in a new home and thriving, Brown said.

By Michael V. Cusenza

The City and unions representing members of the horse-drawn carriage industry have reached “an agreement in concept” to keep the iconic attraction in the Big Apple.

The announcement was made late last Sunday night in a joint statement from Mayor Bill de Blasio; Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito; George Miranda, president of Teamsters Joint Council 16; Demos Demopoulos, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 553; and Teamster Carriage Driver Stephen Malone.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement in concept on the future of New York’s horse carriage industry. We look forward to working together on the final details of this legislation and getting this passed.”

After a new bill is hammered out, the Council will hold a hearing on it and then vote.

Under the new agreement, all stables will move to Central Park, and the number of licensed horses in the city will be reduced to 110 from 180, by Dec. 1, 2016. That number will drop even further to 95 when the new stables open in the park. Horses will be banned from traveling outside Central Park.

According to a New York Daily News report, officials will be required to fund and open a stable inside Central Park by 2018; the number of hours a horse can work a day will drop to nine; drivers will be allowed to charge an extra $5 for rides after 6 p.m. between Nov. 15 and Jan. 5 and on Valentine’s Day and Easter; horses not currently at work will be required to furlough outside NYC; and the City pledged to ban pedicabs from Central Park south of 85th Street.

“We think this is going to be a solid change for this city on many levels,” de Blasio said this week. “For a long time, I’ve talked about the fact that we need to get horses off our streets. Horses do not belong on the streets of the biggest city in the country in the middle of midtown traffic. It’s not fair and humane to the horses. It’s not fair to drivers – it creates congestion. There are a lot of reasons why this has to change. So, this agreement will achieve that. Horses will get off the streets of our city. In terms of the routes that they go on, in the course of this year, 2016, they’ll go into Central Park. Ultimately the stables will be moved and there’ll be no more horse carriages anywhere on the streets. Everything will be contained in Central Park. And it will obviously lead to many fewer horses being used in this industry. So, it’s a lot of progress. It’s real progress.”

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com

By Michael V. Cusenza

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced this week that he has created an Animal Cruelty Prosecutions Unit, which will work closely with the newly formed NYPD Animal Cruelty Investigations Squad, in pursuing allegations of animal cruelty, abuse and neglect in Queens.

The mandate of the Animal Cruelty Prosecutions Unit – the first of its kind in a district attorney’s office in New York City – will be to investigate and prosecute animal cruelty crimes and to educate the public about how to prevent and detect abuse of animals.

In creating the ACPU, Brown also announced that he has appointed veteran prosecutor Nicoletta Caferri as its inaugural chief. Brown described Caferri as a career prosecutor who has been with the Queens DA’s Office since 1992. Most notably, she handled the appeal of People v. Curtis Basile, in which the state Court of Appeals recently affirmed the 2007 animal mistreatment conviction of Basile who showed a complete disregard for the life of a helpless animal by failing to furnish the basic necessities required to maintain the dog’s health. Since then she has been invited to speak at various prosecutorial forums across the country and has been asked to do law enforcement training nationally and to work on amicus curiae briefs for other prosecutors.

Other animal cruelty cases that Caferri has assisted in prosecuting, Brown noted, include that of a Ridgewood resident who pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals last month for failing to properly care for or feed his dog that was emaciated, severely malnourished and did not have the energy to walk when brought to an animal shelter.  The defendant was sentenced to a conditional discharge, with the conditions including that he be banned from owning an animal for three years and that he be required to register with the New York City Department of Health as an animal abuser.

As in the previous case, Caferri is working with Assistant District Attorney Oscar W. Ruiz, the deputy chief of the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau, in prosecuting a Jamaica man on aggravated animal cruelty and other charges after he was allegedly observed kicking, punching and choking his pit bull-mix puppy over a six-week period.

“Niki is the ideal candidate to head up the newly created initiative,” Brown said. “She is an accomplished appellate attorney who is extremely passionate about her work and has an extraordinary and unparalleled commitment to upholding the state’s animal cruelty laws and in protecting the interests of victimized animals.”

Sgt. Michael Murphy, commanding officer of the NYPD’s Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad, added that his unit “has an extraordinary working relationship with the Queens District Attorney’s Office in regards to Animal Cruelty Investigations. With the new Animal Cruelty Prosecutions Unit created by District Attorney Brown we are looking forward to an even stronger collaboration to stop animal cruelty.”

The new QDA unit hit the ground running this week. A Jackson Heights man has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty and other offenses after allegedly slamming his girlfriend’s 3-year-old Chihuahua against the floor, killing the animal, during a verbal dispute Sunday afternoon.

michael@theforumnewsgroup.com

The alleged incident was witnessed by the girlfriend’s 11-year-old daughter.

Carlos Hernandez, 32, was arraigned on Monday on a criminal complaint charging him with aggravated cruelty to animals, fourth-degree criminal mischief and endangering the welfare of a child.

Bail was set at $7,500 cash or bond. Hernandez posted the surety, and Department of Correction records indicate he was discharged from Rikers Island on Wednesday. His next court date was scheduled for Jan. 25.

According to the charges, Hernandez was inside his girlfriend’s Forest Hills residence at approximately 4:15 p.m. last Sunday and got into a shouting match with her. Hernandez allegedly grabbed the Chihuahua out of her hands and slammed the dog against the floor, causing the dog to bleed from its ears and collapse on the floor, where it died minutes later. The girlfriend’s 11-year-old daughter, who was the Chihuahua’s caregiver, was allegedly present in the room and witnessed the violent incident, Brown noted.

“On the day my office announced the establishment of a dedicated animal cruelty prosecution unit to pursue allegations of animal cruelty, a Queens resident is accused of pulling his girlfriend’s small dog out of her hands during a verbal argument and killing the helpless animal by violently throwing the dog to the floor,” Brown added. “Such acts of aggression toward animals cannot – and will not – be tolerated.”

If convicted, Hernandez faces up to four years in prison.

By Forum Staff

A Jamaica man has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty and other charges after allegedly being observed kicking, punching and choking his pit bull-mix puppy over the last six weeks, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Eric Ranger, a.k.a. “E Bone,” 26, was arraigned last Thursday on a criminal complaint charging him with aggravated cruelty to animals, overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; failure to provide sustenance, and unlawful possession of marijuana.

He was released on his own recognizance and ordered to return to court on Feb. 8, according to court records.

According to the charges, a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks and known as “E-Bone” – who was later identified to be Ranger – was seen by two eyewitnesses outside his 179^th Place residence on Nov. 17 walking what appeared to be a dark small pit bull-mix off-leash and punching, choking and kicking the dog. One of the eyewitnesses later that afternoon allegedly heard a dog crying and yelping inside the stairwell of Ranger’s building. When police reviewed a video made in the third-floor hallway at the time, they allegedly saw a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks punching and kicking a small black dog.

On Dec. 2, according to the charges, police knocked on Ranger’s third-floor apartment door and a black man with dreadlocks – who matched the description given by the two eyewitnesses and whom police recognized to be the man on the surveillance video – answered the door and provided state photo ID, which confirmed it was Ranger. When police asked to see the dog, they saw a puppy matching the descriptions provided by the eyewitnesses and the dog observed on the video. Ranger allegedly said that the dog was his.

In another video, police allegedly watched Ranger carrying the dog up three flights of stairs by his collar which was around the dog’s neck. In an earlier incident, a cop allegedly saw Ranger punch the dog to the ground. When questioned, Ranger allegedly said that he was trying to set the dog straight.

Police executed a court-authorized search warrant at Ranger’s residence last Wednesday and saw the dog inside an upside-down milk crate weighed down with two cases of soda. Cops also allegedly recovered three loose joints and two glassine envelopes of marijuana from the apartment.

During the arrest process, Ranger allegedly confirmed that he uses the name “E-Bone” and showed police a tattoo of the moniker “E-Bone” on his arm.

Brown said that, upon his arrest, Ranger “surrendered the animal to the ASPCA and the puppy is presently being evaluated. His rescue is the nicest Christmas gift he could have received this year.”

If convicted, Ranger faces up to four years in prison.

On the eve of Thanksgiving, visitors to the Target in the Gateway Shopping Center, rushing past the early NYPD boom lift set-up for the coming Black Friday crowds, couldn’t help but notice a plump white calico slinking casually out from and back under parked cars. What to do for the poor creature, who seemed comfortable among these giant machines, as colder weather threatened with the darkening sky?

Torn between researching and bothering animal rescuers on the holiday and potentially disturbing some sort of rhythm the cat had adopted in her hobo life, versus the opportunity to save her from the winter ahead, parking lot passersby continued into the store. And when they came back with their bags overflowing, she was gone.

The sad fact for Wayward Kitty and hundreds of other stray animals like her in the area, is that if you want to try to help and you can’t take her in yourself, there’s no one method that will ensure her a better life. The “official route,” calling 311 or an Animal Care Center of NYC (who did not return The Forum’s request for an interview), will offer fleeting shelter. But according to nycacc.org, unless “deemed medically necessary for humane reasons” to be euthanized even sooner, the animal will only be given a total of 96 hours before it is put down.

AC & C — otherwise known as animal control — is open-admissions, so even if a center is full, it is required to take newly arriving animals. The 96-hour grace period, which includes a requisite 72 hours to attempt to find the pet’s owner, is extended if animals come in with more information, for example if they have been given up and there is a known medical or behavioral history. The reprieve appears to extend to around two weeks if the animal is determined by professionals and volunteers at the facility to be suitable for adoption. During this still-brief period, cats, dogs, rabbits, and other species are listed online (and viewable in person at certain facilities) as available for adoption, and then, in a grim and final 18-hour stretch, “At Risk” for euthanasia, when they can be adopted up until about an hour before they are scheduled to die. Animals are destroyed by euthanasia in these facilities 365 days of the year.

Shelby was on Tuesday/Wednesday’s At Risk list online, published daily at 6 pm by Animal Care Centers of NYC. The ten-year old neutered male would die around noon on Wednesday if not adopted. Full descriptions of all ailments, known history, and documented behaviors are available with each animal profile on the At Risk list, available at nycacc.org. Photo Courtesy of nycacc.org

There are three centers in the city which not only accept admissions but also offer adoptions: Manhattan, Staten Island, and Brooklyn. In Bronx and Queens, there are merely admissions centers, described by some animal rescuers as tiny holding facilities inappropriate for long term animal care.

Once admitted, assessments are made, photos taken, and profiles documented so that the animals might be adopted by members of the general public or by New Hope partners. Animals on the New Hope list might be older or have some treatable ailment that shelters could be better prepared to handle than private individuals. New Hope partners such as Bobbi and the Strays (profiled in last week’s Forum), according to nycacc.org, “take ownership of AC & C animals and care for them in shelters, foster homes, boarding facilities, or their own private facilities prior to placing them in permanent homes through their own adoption process.” The Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals (not a governmental organization and not affiliated with the Mayor of New York) has a Wheels of Hope program, the only free animal transportation program in the city, which brings animals from AC & Cs to over 150 New Hope partners.

Animal shelters and rescue leagues in the New Hope partnership, like Bobbi and the Strays, often take in feral or disabled cats, rehabilitate or reacclimate them, and offer them for adoption. Forum Photo by Eugénie Bisulco

To adopt an “At Risk” animal, go to nycacc.org/Adopt and click on the “ACC’s At-Risk List” between 6:00 pm and 12:00 noon the following day. The three AC & C adoption locations are all open until 8:00 pm on weekdays; thus it is possible to “meet” (in a two-hour window) an imminently At Risk animal in person before adopting it. The adoption fee is $50, plus a $150 deposit to ensure spaying or neutering. If the animal has already been spayed or neutered, that deposit is refunded, and if the animal cannot be sterilized prior to adoption due to a medical condition, the deposit is refunded when the owner provides proof of sterilization outside of the facility.

By Eugénie Bisulco   eugenie@theforumnewsgroup.com

Saving the world – animal by animal – is one time-consuming occupation.

Bobbi Giordano, of all people, knows this firsthand. She starts every day early – before 7 am – and is off and running to one of two Bobbi and the Strays no-kill shelters she operates, or to do a home visit or follow up with the fundraising necessary to successfully manage this not-for-profit business.

Giordano, 70, who currently has three dogs of her own at home, has helped thousands of animals since her first rescue of kittens when she was just nine years old. With a network of veterinarians and other friends like the local ASPCA, she’s determined to accept ailing and elderly animals, sometimes dogs as old as 17 or 18.

“We don’t put them to sleep; we fix them,” Giordano said solemnly. One of those older dogs is in her own personal care at home.

Mallgoers at the Atlas Shops in Glendale might at first be taken aback to see a fully operational animal shelter at the shopping center’s Cooper Avenue entrance. Shade your eyes to peer through the huge plate glass windows and you’ll see peering back at you the faces of some 20-odd dogs and cats, whose cages face the bright windows. Walk in and a clamor occurs; the animals are just that excited to see their Bobbi, who tends to give out delectable-looking morsels of chicken — and plenty of kisses. Giordano says she is incredibly lucky to have this space donated by its generous owners.

And it does get a lot of traffic. Tara Powers, a dog attendant dressed in pink scrubs and fingerless mittens, remarked about the frequency of visitors.

Bobbi (pictured, far right) and the staff and interns at her Atlas Shops shelter care deeply for the twenty or so pets available every day at the Glendale location. Forum Photo by Eugénie Bisulco

“I’ve only been here about six weeks, and four or five dogs – and three cats – got adopted already. Turnover is really good,” said Powers, a South Ozone Park resident. Stats on a recent month’s adoption report agree: 25 dogs and 13 cats adopted, in total, from both locations.

But people walking in shouldn’t expect to walk out with a new pet right away. There is a process, taking as little as a day, which includes an application, a fee to cover vaccines and spaying/neutering, and a home visit. Bobbi and the Strays will not give you an animal you are ill-prepared to care for, no matter how much love you have to provide it.

And apparently it takes a village – or an army – to manage everything. Elyse D’Agostino, who heads up the shelter in Freeport, calls their volunteers, who put in as many as 50 hours a week, “the best in the world.”

Superstitious pet adopters steer clear of beautiful cats like this one, confounding color-blind shelter staff desperate to find them homes. Black cats are usually sought out during Halloween season, when shelters such as Bobbi and the Strays hold firm to a no-black-cats adoption policy, in fear of less than honorable intentions. Forum Photo by Eugénie Bisulco

D’Agostino also shed some light on the sad fact that black animals are underadopted, calling it a “sort of racism” based on some visitors’ belief in “witchcraft.” An entire litter of stunning, healthy black kittens the shelter took in April has yet to be adopted.

When an animal is adopted, cage space – a valuable commodity in the mall shop, particularly – becomes available, and it is filled immediately, usually by reviewing a “euthanasia list” that rescue operations – as well as the general public — can access. Those on death row receive their shelter pardon often with very little time to spare.

“It truly is their second chance,” said Andrea, the Atlas location’s manager, who has been helping Giordano for 15 years. “The City puts down 200 animals a day.” For those who are adopted, “I think they know you saved them.”

Andrea tries to remain aloof so that she can focus on getting a malnourished or sick animal seen by a vet. “But it’s hard to separate your personal love for them when they come in so neglected.”

She also spoke of the increasing number of purebreds in shelters, due to the prevalence of breeders who continue to overpopulate the animal world, the pet owners who buy without fully realizing the commitment involved then must give up their animals, or the lack of education on the importance of spaying and neutering.

“People shouldn’t sell pit bulls that haven’t been spayed or neutered,” said Andrea. “They’re a great breed, so loyal, but they are dying at an alarming rate.” The Atlas location can only take one at a time, and “96% of dogs on the euthanasia list are pit bulls.”

Andrea and the whole network that works for Bobbi and the Strays wear their hearts on their sleeves, all with a deep abiding passion to somehow make things better for our furry, four-footed friends.

“You can’t save the world, but you can definitely make a difference,” she said.

To make your own difference and adopt a pet from Bobbi and the Strays, visit the Glendale shelter at 80-36 Cooper Avenue or their website at bobbiandthestrays.org. For continuing coverage of local animal allies, stay tuned for next week’s issue of The Forum.

By Eugénie Bisulco   eugenie@theforumnewsgroup.com

The Transportation Security Administration announced this week that it is looking for a few good homes for its explosives detection dogs that didn’t make it through the training program or have retired.

According to the TSA, the dogs typically range in age from two to 10 years and the breeds usually include German Short-Haired Pointers, Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois.

The dogs available for adoption were procured to serve as working dogs, and their breeds were selected for their elevated level of “drive,” and thus are very active. Some are well trained, others are not, said a TSA spokeswoman. Canines which were eliminated from the program typically have received some explosives detection training. Most of TSA’s dogs have lived in kennels, not houses, and thus are not familiar with living in a home environment. All are spayed or neutered prior to adoption.

The TSA canines that are available for adoption are located in San Antonio, Tx., and adoptive families who undergo the application process will have to travel to Texas to pick up their new dog.

People interested in adoption must submit an application. Applicants must meet the requirements and then photos and information on the dogs will be provided via email. The adoption coordinator will assist in identifying a dog that best suits each home and family. Applicants will need to provide a signed and notarized indemnity letter, travel to San Antonio to meet the canine and travel home with the dog at the owner’s expense.

People interested in adopting one of the dogs can contact the TSA adoption coordinator via email: AdoptaTSAcanine@OLE.tsa.dhs.gov.

By Forum Staff

Although there are certainly a wide variety of options for dog grooming locally, they definitely should not all be considered equal.

After trying many options, it is with great enthusiasm that I have finally found one that meets all the essential criteria.

When I dropped Lady Isabella Cocoa Bean Adams–that name is so ridiculous I had to include all of it–off at Just Pawfection, around the corner from Coleman Square, I immediately noticed the shop was exceedingly clean. The other thing that jumps out is that from the counter you can see absolutely everything that is going on. Dogs and groomers are all in plain sight.

Cocoa was so happy at Just Pawfection she actually sat still long enough for a picture. Forum Photo by Teresa Gulino.

When I expressed uncertainty about how Cocoa would behave, I was assured, with a smile, that I had nothing to worry about. In the less than two hours from the time I dropped her off, until I was called to pick her up, I learned that statement was very true. I had nothing to worry about.

My beautiful pup emerged with a silky coat, smelling like she just came from a spa and sporting a red, white and blue bandanna. And the groomer was hugging her as she turned her over. Truly a find!

If you need your dog groomed, the only thing wrong with this place is that it’s name really should have been Just Perfection because this grooming experience was just perfect. The staff, the service and the price will all have you happy to return. If you don’t believe me, try it.

Just Pawfection is located at 102-18 159th Road, in Howard Beach.

(718) 322 2700

By Patricia Adams