North Shore Sun

Kent Animal Shelter executive director Pam Green (left) and kennel attendent Allison Waldron with two recent rescues.

A New York City police officer was on patrol last month when she noticed a pit bull puppy tied to a pole in the rain, without food or fresh water.

The officer removed the emaciated and frightened dog and took him to Kent Animal Shelter, a facility about 60 miles east, which welcomed him with open arms.

Today, the 34-pound brindle-colored pup can be seen quietly napping on an overstuffed blue pillow, with plenty of kibble and water nearby, at the Calverton shelter, where he will live until his future family adopts him.

The pit bull, now named Marlon, is one of hundreds of dogs and cats that will be brought to the River Road facility this year alone. Without no-kill facilities like Kent, Marlon could have ended up at a pound, where he surely would have been euthanized.

Or, worse, he might never have been rescued at all.

Kent's policy of accepting animals from around the corner and across the nation is reason the local shelter has been named America's Shelter of the Year for 2009 by the North Shore Animal League.

The Port Washington-based rescue and adoption network, the largest in the world, said it chose Kent out of a pool of nationwide applicants because of its community outreach and low-cost spay and neuter program. The shelter was honored last Saturday in New York City at the 55th annual Purina Pro Plan Show Dogs of the Year Awards presented by Dogs In Review.

"We're proud. Ecstatic, really," said Kent director Pam Green.

The shelter, which Ms. Green estimated holds about 100 cats and dogs at any given time, adopts out about 700 pets a year.

Staff members at Kent have also created a cat retirement home that which houses mostly cats who have outlived their owners and costs a one-time fee of $7,500. They also provide a low-cost spay and neuter program which is open to the public

"Our spay/neuter program is a big part of our mission," Ms. Green said.

Al LaFrance, president of the Greenport-based humane group SAVES (Spay, Alter, Vaccinate Every Stray), said volunteers with his organization took about 400 feral cats to Kent to be spayed and neutered last year alone. SAVES uses Kent frequently because its rates are much lower than those of private veterinarians in the area.

"They provide an excellent service and it's a very reasonable cost," Mr. LaFrance said, adding that a place like Kent is much needed because the nearby municipal shelters in Riverhead and Brookhaven do euthanize cats and dogs.

"In a town like Riverhead that has a kill shelter, it's very important for [a no-kill facility] to be available," he said.

Kent also accepts animals from kill shelters across the U.S. and the Caribbean. Soon, she'll have a shipment of perfectly adoptable puppies that would otherwise have died.

Though their work has been nationally recognized, Ms. Green said the 41-year-old shelter, which is funded mainly by donations and grants, is in need of a major upgrade. She and her staff of 16 hope to build a new facility on the property sometime in the future.

vchinese@timesreview.com