Community Corner

Riverhead Resident Starts Campaign for New Animal Shelter

Denise Lucas has started a one-woman campaign to raise money for a new town shelter.

Denise Lucas repeated her mantra over and over at Monday afternoon's Town Hall press conference.

"One woman, one dream, help is on the way," she said.

For Lucas, a 20-year Riverhead resident, that dream is simple: build a new animal shelter for the Town of Riverhead.

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Lucas has started a campaign to raise funds to build a new facility for the town's abandoned or rescued dogs and cats. She has raised $3,000 over the past few days from businesses across the East End, most of them outside of Riverhead, by going door-to-door asking for donations.

"I'm on a mission," she said. "My mission is to try to save [the animals]. I just believe they deserve a better shot at life than what they're getting."

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Lucas said the shelter, which is located next to a sump, a landfill cap and a deer pit, is an unsuitable facility that may discourage residents from adopting the pets.

The town animal shelter has been the target of criticism of animal activists over controversies regarding the former head of the shelter, Lou Coronesi. Coronesi came under fire after .

Coronesi had not shown up for work in five months and resigned last week. Councilman Jim Wooten said Sean McCabe, a former animal control officer who currently works in the town's sewer department, was in talks to step into the role.

Lucas said she hopes to raise $200,000 to construct a new shelter for dogs and cats by September 2012.

The money she raises would be placed into a proposed trust fund controlled by the town, according to Town Councilman Jim Wooten. Wooten said the Town Board would vote to establish the fund at their next meeting on Oct. 4.

Any money raised by Lucas and her committee, called Move the Animal Shelter, would be given to the town, earmarked to be used only for the construction of a new shelter, and put into that fund, Wooten said.

The town cannot legally raise funds, but would accept a private gift from Lucas and anyone else who donated to the cause. Wooten said the town is still figuring out legal issues to take money from the trust fund to pay for the Lucas expenses, such as booking a room for a fundraiser.

Wooten said he couldn't estimate how much building a new shelter would cost, who would build it or where it would be moved to.

"We'll face those choices when the money gets there," Wooten said, adding that if the town did not receive enough donations to build a new shelter after several years, the Town Board would have the money spent elsewhere.

Lucas, who has three rescued dogs of her own, said she has always dreamed of building a shelter for dogs and cats but it was an incident on Labor Day weekend that drove her to take action.

About a month ago, Lucas took a 13-year-old neighbor to the town shelter to look at the dogs. The girl, who Lucas said wants to be a veterinarian, was terrified.

"She was basically ripping my t-shirt, holding onto me, begging me, 'Ms. Denise, Ms. Denise, please can we go?'" Lucas said.

Lucas insisted she has no aspirations to run the shelter or run for office, and said she will continue to go block by block to raise money.

"I'm doing this for my town," she said. "I'm going to keep walking. I want everybody to be aware of what's going on."

Those interested in donating money to the fund are asked to write a check made out to "Town of Riverhead" with "New Animal Shelter" in the memo line.


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