August 23, 2019

Next week, our own Patty Ralabate will be retiring from the SPCA.

Patty has been affiliated with this organization either as a volunteer (Petique, Veterinary Department, Adoptions, and Admissions) and/or as an employee (Adoptions, Admissions) for 23 years! Patty worked as Volunteer Rescue Coordinator for the SPCA part of the time she was an employee, communicating with rescue organization representatives, maintaining the database of the SPCA’s approved rescue groups, and engaging in the transports of those rescue dogs brought to our organization.

Transports have been a large part of Patty’s work during her tenure at the SPCA. She helped coordinate transports between southern states and into Canada for various rescue groups. Patty, who transported dogs between the US and Canada as well as within the US (New York, Pennsylvania), also maintained the database and assisted in aquiring volunteers to participate in different legs of transport runs, often monitoring some of the runs to ensure they were glitch-free. If there were problems, Patty smoothed them over.

Patty also obtained farm dogs and dogs from puppy mills during her many trips to Ohio, sometimes attending auctions to rescue these dogs from harsh treatment. She is a founding member of Furever Friends Dog Rescue of WNY, is currently the Intake Coordinator and a writer for that organization, creates and maintains records and statistics for each of their transports, and if that’s not enough, she is at the SPCA to personally meet every Furever Friends transport. You may see Patty representing Furever Friends at various events, educating members of the public on the link between pet stores, the Internet, and puppy mills.

We asked Patty about some of her favorite SPCA memories. She said that, in addition to Furever Friends becoming a respected partner of the SPCA, one of her fondest memories is of the day former executive director Barbara Carr agreed to accept Patty’s first four dogs from a puppy mill dog auction: two Pomeranians and two Cocker Spaniels.

When asked what has meant the most to Patty here at the SPCA, she responded in this way: “Just the fact that, even on the busiest day, or the most emotional day, or during truly tragic events that occur on any given workday at the shelter, I have been so blessed to be considered both an employee and a volunteer with an organization to works tirelessly for the good of all animals. I never once had the feeling, ‘I don’t want to go to work today!’ And I have been surrounded by a whole army of people who feel the same way! “

We know Patty’s pets Corrie, Lilly, Farren, Aubree, and Shea, will be thrilled to have her around more often, and we know thousands of pets’ lives will continue to be enriched by Patty’s work. She has dedicated her life to making each little life she touches better, and we’re honored she has spent so much of her time bettering the lives of the animals and people at the SPCA!

–Gina Lattuca, SPCA Chief Communications Officer

Community Members Donate Hundreds of Supplies to SPCA Serving Erie County Through Senator Mike Ranzenhofer’s Donation Drive

August 7, 2019
By: SPCA Chief Communications Officer Gina Lattuca

Senator Mike Ranzenhofer, in cooperation with Amherst Town Clerk Jeffrey Zeplowitz and Clarence Town Clerk Nancy Metzger, spent the month of July hosting a donation drive for the animals here at the SPCA Serving Erie County!

Earlier this summer, Senator Ranzenhofer said, “I am pleased to be hosting a donation drive for the SPCA.  The SPCA has saved countless animals and does wonderful work. I am happy to be giving back to them [and] appreciate Clerks Metzger and Zeplowitz having drop-off locations at their offices.”

August 7, 2019 was drop-off day at the SPCA’s West Seneca shelter. SPCA Annual Giving Manager Phil Weiss welcomed Senator Ranzenhofer, his team, and especially their big truck full of donations! See the video here!

Thanks to each and every community member who contributed, and tail wags to Senator Ranzenhofer and Town Clerks Metzger and Zeplowitz for supporting the animals helped by our humane society!

See more on this year’s drive here >>

Eggertsville Firefighters Rescue Kitten Trapped In Storm Sewer

From Buffalo News; see additional photos and read more here >>

By Keith McShea | Published 10:51 a.m. July 23, 2019

Firefighters actually do save cats from trees sometimes. And they also rescue them from storm sewers.

The Eggertsville Hose Company, with some help from neighborhood residents and children, rescued a stray kitten who had fallen into a storm drain on Harcroft Court in Amherst Monday night.

After neighborhood children heard the kitten crying from the sewer, firefighters arrived, opened three storm drains to isolate the cat, and used some sardines supplied by a neighbor to lure the cat to within arm’s reach.

The effort, which lasted just over an hour, ended when firefighter Pat Boyle was able to get a hold of the kitten and lift him out of the sewer to applause from children and photo-snapping neighbors.

“It was great, it was almost like heart-melting to see all the kids when I brought it out,” said Boyle. “Everybody brought their phones out, everyone wanted a picture of it … it was a great feeling.”

Ten firefighters including First Assistant Fire Chief Brandon Peters were involved in the nontraditional rescue, which lasted from 8:20 to 9:35 p.m. No residents knew where the kitten came from, while firefighters estimated it to be 2- to 4-weeks-old. The SPCA took custody of the kitten following the rescue.

“There was a lot of community involvement, it was really kind of fun, and it’s always fun when there’s a good outcome,” said past chief and public information officer John Buttino, who was also on scene. “We’re a volunteer department and we answer over 1,200 calls a year – that was our fourth call of the day. It was a non-routine call and definitely unique.

“It just goes by what residents do: When they can’t solve a problem, they’ll call the fire department, and they seem to fix things.”

Firefighters engaged in a game of cat and air hose to rescue the kitten. Firefighters had to find out which parts of the maze of storm sewers the cat was in, and then used an air hose to make a commotion in an effort to direct the cat to a location where they could reach it.

“The storm sewers are all connected via tubing, and the cat was probably halfway through one sewer under the road when we got there,” said Boyle.

Firefighters then opened a cover on the opposite side of the road and put an air line down to try and direct it back to the other side. They never had to enter the tubes; the storm sewers were relatively shallow, coming up chest-high to firefighters.

“We turned on some air on very low volume, trying to entice it to come out the other side, which it did … it came running out, but then it ran into another hole on the other side,” said Boyle.

Eggertsville Hose Company firefighters check out the storm sewers in search of a trapped kitten. (photo courtesy of Chris Pyzynski)

Firefighters then opened another manhole cover to block that escape route.

“We missed him on the first try and he went shooting down another pipe, so we capped the one pipe off and went down the other end,” said Buttino.

Meanwhile, a crowd of residents had gathered.

“At first we could hear it crying a little bit,” said Harcroft Court resident Chris Pyzynski, who said she lives two houses down from the scene. “Then finally we could hear it quite a bit, it sounded distressed.”

While Buttino and other firefighters used the air hose to direct the kitten back to the original manhole, Boyle could see it getting closer and closer.

“It was sitting in there crying and we could hear it meowing,” Boyle said. “That’s when we took the sardines and placed it down on the edge of the hole, and he came to the edge of the hole, but he kept scooting back in. Finally, he came out enough that I was able to grab him by the scruff of the neck and remove him from the hole.”

Buttino and his crew were about 150 feet away at the other manhole.

“You could hear the uproar down the street,” Buttino said. “They all started cheering and applauding down there, and we were like, ‘I think they got it.’ ”

Four members of the Town of Amherst engineering department were called in for their expertise; the engineers had just left to get their equipment when the cat was rescued.

“It was really cool – we all thanked them, and clapped a little bit and cheered a little bit – we didn’t want to scare the kitten,” said Pyzynski. “People stayed around there the whole time to make sure it was alright. We were proud of our firemen, and we told them that.”

The kitten, named Patricia by the SPCA in honor of firefighter Patrick Boyle, will be put in foster care.

Firefighters treated the kitten with oxygen via an animal mask right after rescuing it, Boyle said, “just to make sure it was OK.” Boyle wrapped up the kitten in a towel and it got a ride back to the Eggertsville station on a fire truck, where representatives from the SPCA retrieved the cat later Monday night.

SPCA Chief Communications Officer Gina Lattuca said the kitten, which is a female, was in an incubator Tuesday afternoon and will undergo an exam today.

“We wanted to make sure she got some nice, clean, pure air,” said Lattuca. “Since she was in a storm drain, sometimes animals can breathe things in that can cause internal damage.”

Lattuca said a foster family has been lined up to care for the kitten, and that foster care families have the first chance to adopt foster-care animals. The kitten will be picked up Wednesday morning, and the foster family was not aware of last night’s rescue.

“We have the best people who provide foster care – they don’t care if it’s a celebrity kitten,” Lattuca said.

Lattuca said the kitten has been named “Patricia” by the SPCA in honor of firefighter Patrick Boyle.

From Buffalo News; see additional photos and read more here >>