Warwick Humane Society hosts third candlelight vigil

WARWICK — The Warwick Valley Humane Society hosted its third annual candlelight vigil on Saturday night, Aug. 18, at Railroad Green in the Village of Warwick.
The event was again held in celebration of International Homeless Animals’ Day.
In 1992, the International Society for Animal Rights (ISAR) introduced Homeless Animals’ Day and Candlelight Vigils as an educational vehicle to inform the public about a pet overpopulation problem that overwhelms animal shelters.
The Warwick Valley Humane Society was one of only two organizations throughout New York State to participate in the event.
“We can relate to this,” said Suzyn Barron, president of the Society,“as we have 160 cats or kittens, 20 dogs, five rabbits, one parakeet, two roosters and one mouse at our shelter. Spaying and neutering is the only humane way to impact this global problem.”
Local dignitaries who participated in Saturday night’s ceremony included Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Mayor Michael Newhard, Councilman Floyd D’Angelo, Town of Warwick Justice, Nancy D’Angelo, Councilman Russ Kowal and Steve Tardiff, founder of The Animal Rights Alliance. They each shared their support of the work of the Warwick Valley Humane Society and the important services provided to the community.
“We thank the Warwick Valley Humane Society for bringing the plight of homeless animals to the public and for their advocacy on behalf of all the animals in our Town,” said Sweeton. “We are lucky to have such a fine organization care for the animals in need.”
D’Angelo read a Native American saying that a person will be judged by the animals he or she has encountered throughout their life and that the animals will decide who passes through the gate.
Steve Tardiff spoke about the work of The Animal Rights Alliance (T.A.R.A.), the low cost spay/neuter clinic for cats which has been in operation for 11 years and has completed 67,000 spays and neuters.
Orange County, the Town of Warwick, the Village of Warwick and the Village of Greenwood Lake also issued proclamations designating Saturday, Aug. 18, as “Homeless Animals Day” in their jurisdictions.
Barron, who is also a professional singer, ended the ceremony with a song titled “If I Could,” with a few word changes to fit the ceremony such as “If I could, you would never know a day of homelessness, never have to know the ache of hopelessness. The only way is to neuter and to spay.”

Essential information

The society’s shelter, just off Kings Highway, has a large selection of pets, many of whom are housebroken.
Shelter personnel collect a history of each pet and assess its health and temperament in order to make the best adoption matches possible.
Fees are usually much less than the purchase price of an animal from a pet store or breeder and all pets are vaccinated, de-wormed, and spayed or neutered.
For additional information call the Warwick Valley Humane Society Animal Shelter at 986-2473 or visit: www.wvhumane.org.