Author: Gina

PREPARING FOR HPAI WITH THE ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

April 5, 2022 — April 2 was a busy day at the SPCA Serving Erie County! Representatives of the Erie County Health Department’s Division of Emergency Preparedness came to the SPCA to help our Wildlife Department prepare to provide the safest care possible for our feathered friends due to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

Representatives from Messinger Woods Wildlife Care and Education Center and Wild Kritters of Niagara County Inc. were invited to the session to learn, along with us, the best way to provide care upon receipt of animals affected by HPAI.

Members of the SPCA’s Wildlife Department and Educational Farm have spent many hours planning ahead in the event our organization is faced with admission of animals suffering from this highly-contagious disease carried by free-flying wild birds (ducks, geese, gulls, etc.). with new strains causing illness and high mortality in wild birds and domestic poultry.

The SPCA Serving Erie County extends a heartfelt thanks to the Erie County Health Department for the training, the donation of tremendous amounts of PPE, and fitting attendees for N95 respirators.

Read the March 24, 2022 report on HPAI from the Cornell University Wildlife Health Lab (the most recent University report on HPAI available at the time of this writing) HERE. For more on 2022 detections of HPAI in New York State commercial and backyard flocks, visit the USDA’s information page HERE.

 

 

— Gina Lattuca, SPCA Serving Erie County Chief Communications Officer

If you’ve ever needed proof of how your donations help animals at the SPCA, look no further. Trooper’s tale has a happy ending, but the length of time it took to get there is hair-raising: 

Join us in our fight to protect animals >>

 

–Gina Lattuca, SPCA Serving Erie County Chief Communications Officer

Fun photos from this fabulous event >>

We have one word to describe March 25, 2022’s adoption event at Northtown Subaru in Amherst: SUBARUNBELIEVABLE!

The team at Northtown Automotive Companies & Northtown Subaru went full speed ahead, and brought along the Buffalo Sabres, to hold an exciting adoption event for our SPCA!

Plenty of our animals found new love, and $28,680 was donated through Subaru’s recent “Share the Love” campaign! Sabres fans were able to have their photos taken with former players Rob Ray and Pat Kaleta along with sassy Sabretooth, and adopters received a pair of tickets to an upcoming game!

On behalf of the SPCA’s staff, volunteers, and animals, thousands of tail wags go out to our friends at Northtown!

See the photo album filled with pics of the fun at bit.ly/NorthtownAdoptionEvent, or just click one of the images below!

–Gina Lattuca, SPCA Serving Erie County Chief Communications Officer

SPCA Privileged to be Part of Buffalo Bills Community Honors Ceremony

March 22, 2022 — Last night the Buffalo Bills organization held its first-ever Community Honors dinner at Highmark Stadium. Phillip Weiss and Gina Lattuca of the SPCA Serving Erie County were thrilled to be part of the ceremony that included special recognition of the BILLS MUTTFIA, a program created by SPCA Board Member Hayley Beane and her husband, Buffalo Bills General Manager Brandon Beane.

The Beanes, joined by pet Chihuahua mix Peanut, were honored for their extraordinary efforts in increasing shelter animal adoptions by paying the adoption fees for SPCA animals, one for every home game touchdown. To date, during the NFL’s ’20-’21 and ’21-’22 seasons, the Beanes have paid approximately $9,000 in adoption fees, and more than 100 animals have been adopted as a result of Bills Muttfia. The SPCA is eternally grateful for this contribution and for the awareness the Beanes have brought to shelter animals and their extraordinary value!

See photos of the Buffalo Bills Community Honors ceremony  here >>

Bills Community Honors Photos >>



–Gina Lattuca, SPCA Serving Erie County Chief Communications Officer

From Cornell Cooperative Extension and WKBW-TV 7 Buffalo: Take Down Bird Feeders to Help Stop Spread of Avian Flu

Click on image to see the full story

 

–Gina Lattuca, SPCA Serving Erie County Chief Communications Officer

 

Our favorite, Terry Buchwald, is back with the WNY Elvis Appreciation Society to help the animals at the SPCA!  All the details are in the flier below! But just for fun…how many references to Elvis songs can you find in this write-up? (HINT: There are 20 songs referenced! Answers in red below the flier!)

Memories of pre-COVID days got you down and you don’t even want to get out of bed? Well, set that teddy bear aside, grab your good luck charm, and don’t worry too much about being lonesome tonight…or at least not on April 23!

We’re all shook up to announce that ELVIS FOREVER is back to benefit the hound dogs and other animals at the SPCA Serving Erie County! And we can’t help falling in love with Buffalo Music Hall of Fame member Terry Buchwald…we know you’ll love him tender too!…as he gives us a little less conversation and a whole lot more of the music we ALL have a burning love for!

Put on your blue suede shoes and join the WNY Elvis Appreciation Society and the SPCA Saturday, April 23, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, 33 Legion Parkway, way down in Lancaster!

See the flier here for all the details! And tickets are going fast, so it’s now or never! We don’t want to be cruel, but when they’re gone, they’re gone! Just call Trish at 716-481-0958…she’s the one taking care of business, and she’ll tell you where to mail your check; then the tickets will be returned to sender.

Let’s bossa nova together, and sing along too!  There’ll be a whole lotta’ shaking going on…you won’t want to miss it! See you next month!

–Gina Lattuca, SPCA Chief Communications Officer

 

ANSWERS IN RED!

Memories of pre-COVID days got you down and you don’t even want to get out of bed? Well, set that teddy bear aside, grab your good luck charm, and don’t worry too much about being lonesome tonight…or at least not on April 23!

We’re all shook up to announce that ELVIS FOREVER is back to benefit the hound dogs and other animals at the SPCA Serving Erie County! And we can’t help falling in love with Buffalo Music Hall of Fame member Terry Buchwald…we know you’ll love him tender too!…as he gives us a little less conversation and a whole lot more of the music we ALL have a burning love for!

Put on your blue suede shoes and join the WNY Elvis Appreciation Society and the SPCA Saturday, April 23, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, 33 Legion Parkway, way down in Lancaster!

See the flier here for all the details! And tickets are going fast, so it’s now or never! We don’t want to be cruel, but when they’re gone, they’re gone! Just call Trish at 716-481-0958…she’s the one taking care of business, and she’ll tell you where to mail your check; then the tickets will be returned to sender.

Let’s bossa nova together, and sing along too!  There’ll be a whole lotta’ shaking going on…you won’t want to miss it! See you next  month!

Become an SPCA Wildlife Volunteer!

Learn how by contacting Wildlife Director Barbara Haney:
barbh@yourspca.org or (716) 875-7360, ext. 220!

Visit our Wildlife Department page by clicking the image below!

 

 


ERIE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
DISTRICT ATTORNEY JOHN J. FLYNN

DEPEW MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FELONY ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGE FOR BEATING HIS CAT TO DEATH WITH A BASEBALL BAT

March 1, 2022
By: Kait Munro, Public Information Officer, Erie County District Attorney

UPDATE 5/12/22: Baker will serve jail time and five years probation according to this morning’s sentencing by Judge Sheila A. DiTullio. Read the full sentencing update here >>

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 52-year-old Boyd C. Baker of Depew pleaded guilty yesterday morning to one count of Aggravated Cruelty to Animals (Class “E” felony). The defendant pleaded guilty to the only charge in the indictment against him two days before testimony was scheduled to begin in his upcoming bench trial.

On February 14, 2021, at approximately 10:48 p.m., Depew Police officers responded to a residence on Penora Street after receiving a 911 call from a neighbor. The defendant is accused of hitting his cat multiple times with a baseball bat in the driveway outside of his home. A couple hours after the incident was reported, a police officer found the cat severely injured before it died. A necropsy determined that the cat, named “Roxy,” died from blunt force trauma.

Baker faces a maximum of two years in prison when he is sentenced by Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio on Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. He continues to remain released on his own recognizance.

A court order issued by Judge DiTullio that prohibits the defendant from owning any animals remains in effect.

DA Flynn commends the Depew Police Department, SPCA Investigator Bill Heine and the SPCA Serving Erie County for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Megan E. Mahoney of the Felony Trials Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Christine M. Garvey of the Animal Cruelty Unit.

–Gina Lattuca, SPCA Chief Communications Officer

READ ACROSS AMERICA!
March 2, 2022

SPCA’s READ ACROSS AMERICA Book Selections >>

We’re celebrating #ReadAcrossAmerica Day at the SPCA Serving Erie County, and our Humane Education Department staff found a way to help children celebrate too!

Check out this list of recommended reading, 40 books for children of all ages with humane themes, hand-selected by members of the SPCA’s Humane Education Department! The books focus on pet adoption, pet loss, animal rescue, caring for animals, animal adventures, and more!

If your child loves reading, don’t forget to check out the SPCA’s Tale for Two program allowing children to read to shelter animals! Details here >>

And if your child’s library is a little sparse, mark May 2 – May 7, 2022 in your calendar! That’s the day the Scholastic Book Fair returns to our 300 Harlem Rd., West Seneca shelter…with online purchase opportunities available too! Details coming soon!

-Gina Lattuca, SPCA Serving Erie County Chief Communications Officer

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