New York gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman urged stronger protections for animals after authorities rescued 155 neglected cats and dogs from what officials described as a Long Island hoarding nightmare.
Blakeman, the Nassau County executive and a longtime supporter of animal rights causes, delivered the appeal Tuesday at the City of Glen Cove Animal Shelter, appearing with shelter employees and representatives from the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
At the press conference, held after the arrest of a Glen Cove woman accused of keeping more than 150 animals in squalid conditions inside her home, Blakeman emphasized “how important it is to make sure that animals are safe, that they’re cared for, and that they are not neglected or abused.”
“We had a recent situation whereby we had over 150 cats that were found in one person’s home. And then the person was breeding them for monetary reasons, allegedly,” the Republican candidate for governor said.
“What we needed at that point was the ability to go in and try to help those cats and find a home for them,” Blakeman added.
Two dogs were also removed from the home as part of the rescue effort.
Animal advocate and political commentator Rob Becerra echoed Blakeman’s concerns, pushing for the creation of a statewide agency focused on animal welfare.
“We need a Department of Animal Welfare here in the state of New York to oversee all animal-related issues in our state,” Becerra said during the news conference.
“If we have that, we will be able to combat it much easier — the people who are doing illegal backyard breeding, who are hurting these dogs, who are beating these dogs and lighting dogs on fire, which was one of my cases in Queens.”
“We have a moral and ethical obligation to do right by the most defenseless in our society,” he added.
Becerra slammed Gov Kathy Hochul’s administration for being “indifferent” to animal cruelty and said he confronted the lieutenant governor last year at City Hall about a 29-year-old who beat a dog to death and lit the pup on fire.
“I’ve seen people with more expressions when they’re being handcuffed than I saw on her face,” Becerra claimed of the lieutenant governor’s alleged reaction.
“This silver fox over here…we gotta get him in Albany,” the animal activist added, pointing to Blakeman, who is running against Hochul.
Blakeman’s push for greater animal safety was a direct response to Alena Horbatko’s arrest last month after her 18-year-old daughter blew the whistle on the deplorable living conditions within her mom’s urine-infested house of horrors in Glen Cove.
The Nassau County SPCA confirmed to The Post last week that 153 cats and two dogs were rescued from Horbatko’s following her arrest on June 8.
While the Nassau County SPCA is independent of the government, there are limitations on how much authority it has when protecting vulnerable animals.
“I witnessed the SPCA standing there waiting to get that warrant to go through [Horbatko’s] door saying, ‘this time we’re going to get her,’ because they tried time and time again,” a 20-year veteran at the Cove Animal Shelter said at the press conference.
“Unfortunately, the laws are on both sides. But if we can get the law to go more towards the animal side, we would be so grateful,” she said.
Local animal adoption agencies and pet stores have helped the Nassau County SPCA find forever homes for the rescued kitties and dogs, Patch reported — including Allie, an 11-month-old German Shepherd, who was rescued from Horbatko’s house and was in attendance at the press conference.
Horbatko pleaded guilty to 67 counts of torturing or injuring an animal, two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment, and one count of acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17 and was slapped with an animal ownership ban.
She is due back in court on Aug. 10.
