Local Animal Rights Group Holds Gala at Crest Hollow

Pets on Long Island have a voice, many in fact. They came together at  last Tuesday to speak out and raise money for our four-legged friends.

Pet Peeves, Inc.  is based in Woodbury and supports shelters and animal rescue groups across Long Island.  Crest Hollow hosted the group's annual gala, a club-themed party where the main theme is helping the animals.

Specifically, Pet Peeves helps others do the helping.  The nine-year-old non-profit organization hands out thousands of dollars in grants to shelters based on need.  Any organization that shares the same goals as Pet Peeves can qualify.

"We work with helping the shelters on Long Island to survive and to help them get as many pets into loving homes as possible," Pet Peeves founder Janine Dion said.  "We also work with pet therapy programs so we can connect human and animals together, and [we teach] humane education."

Everyone who works with Pet Peeves is a volunteer, and they came out in full force at Crest Hollow, entering raffles to win everything from a home theatre system and a trip to Los Cabos, right on down to gift baskets and spa days (for a pet-icure, perhaps?)

"It's a great give back, a real a-ha moment," Dion said of the hundreds on hand at the party.

Pet Peeves promotes animal welfare by controlling the population. Having your pets spayed or neutered is not just a Bob Barker catchphrase; it's vital. Adopting pets from shelters rather than purchasing them from a store is stressed, and when you do adopt, go for a mature pet rather than a baby.

"[Children] are much better off with a calmer animal...financially it's easier, and training-wise it's also easier," Dion said.

Joan Phillips is president of the Animal Lovers League in Glen Cove.  They're one of the many benefactors of the efforts of Pet Peeves, and Phillips said their Safe Haven program wouldn't be a reality without them.  Safe Haven allows people to give their animals away temporarily if they're unable to care for them, and get them back when they can. 

"Not much had been done for the shelters, [we] were struggling," Phillips said.  "Pet Peeves, once they started supporting us, we were able to spread our wings and expand into programs that we couldn't have done without them."

So dogs and cats out there, bark and purr as loud as you want.  The humane voices of Pet Peeves will be even louder.