by John Di Leonardo | Jan 2, 2025 | Uncategorized
Humane Long Island is featured in a Newsday investigation revealing rising deaths and mass injuries at the home of the Belmont Stakes. “’New York needs to let this cruel industry either stand on its own or die, like the more than 30 horses who were killed at...
by John Di Leonardo | Jul 22, 2024 | Victories
After a horse was paraded into Horse & Hound pub on Islip’s Main Street for a social media promotion this past weekend, HumaneLI identified three apparent violations of Islip Town Code, Suffolk County Health Sanitary Code, and New York State Law, alerting...
by John Di Leonardo | Jul 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
The New York Times published a cover story about activists sounding the alarm about the harmful effects of Sloth Encounters, featuring our victory shutting down Sloth Encounters in Hauppauge. Days later, it published a letter to the editor by Humane Long Island...
by John Di Leonardo | Jun 27, 2024 | Victories
by John Di Leonardo | May 25, 2024 | Victories
by John Di Leonardo | May 9, 2024 | Victories
As Sloth Encounters’ owner Larry Wallach’s USDA exhibitor license nears its expiration date on June 14th, 2024, the USDA has just released an ‘Official Warning’ to Sloth Encounters’ owner Larry Wallach, warning him that “if APHIS...
by John Di Leonardo | Apr 1, 2024 | Victories
Following the Easter holiday, Humane Long Island traded a vegan Easter basket for the lives of a Khaki Campbell duck, a Muscovy duck, and an Silkie chicken at a New York City live slaughter market. The ducks had the ends of the beaks and toes cut off and the Silkie...
by John Di Leonardo | Apr 1, 2024 | Victories
by John Di Leonardo | Mar 15, 2024 | Victories
Following a Humane Long Island investigation that documented hundreds of violations by dozens of vendors exhibiting and selling constrictor snakes such as pythons and boa constrictors, iguanas, tarantulas and scorpions, among other animals at the Long Island Reptile...
by John Di Leonardo | Mar 7, 2024 | Victories
by John Di Leonardo | Feb 2, 2024 | Victories
Village of Babylon Mayor Mary Adams kicked off Long Island’s 1st annual animal-free Groundhog Day celebration this morning with the unveiling of “Babylon Belle”, a human-sized “Groundhog” complete with bows in her hair and a tutu,...
by John Di Leonardo | Jan 31, 2024 | Victories
After Humane Long Island learned that the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District (BID) planned to hire a New York City horse-drawn carriage operator to force horses to haul passengers at its Port Jeff Ice Festival, we teamed up with our friends at NYCLASS...
by John Di Leonardo | Jan 23, 2024 | Victories
Following a complaint by Humane Long Island, the Nassau County SPCA led a multi-agency investigation of a North Bellmore man who had hoarded 100 animals inside his basement and backyard. Federal, state, and local authorities issued the man 30 violations relating to...
by John Di Leonardo | Jan 18, 2024 | Victories
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Carlos Lauro, 76, of Riverhead, pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a German Shepherd with a rifle and was sentenced to one year in jail and a 20-year ban on owning or possessing animals. “Our...
by John Di Leonardo | Dec 15, 2023 | Victories
After Humane Long Island observed exotic pet store Creepy Creatures advertising a raffle that offered live snakes, geckos, tarantulas, and other animals as prizes, we contacted our colleagues at the Nassau County SPCA who visited the Farmingdale business. Creepy...
by John Di Leonardo | Oct 24, 2023 | Victories
After hearing from Humane Long Island that snakes and tarantulas are illegal to sell or possess in Islip, Petco Bay Shore promptly removed these animals from its shelves and pledged never to sell them again in the...
by John Di Leonardo | Oct 19, 2023 | Victories
After hearing from Humane Long Island that Sloth Encounters owner Larry Wallach was frequenting a Starbucks in Rockville Centre with baby sloths, the Nassau County Department of Health issued the store a written warning for allowing Wallach to bring a sloth into its...
by John Di Leonardo | Oct 1, 2023 | Victories
After Humane Long Island discovered that constrictor snakes, scorpions, and tarantulas were being exhibited and sold at the Long Island Reptile Expo at Suffolk Community College’s Brentwood Campus in violation of Islip town code, the Long Island Reptile Expo...
by John Di Leonardo | Sep 19, 2023 | Victories
After a decade of protesting outside UniverSoul Circus in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, we can finally hang up our costumes! The circus has gone animal-free! Thank you to our friends at PETA and everyone who joined us over the years! As a guardianship lawyer, my...
by John Di Leonardo | Aug 18, 2023 | Victories
After an individual was spotted exhibiting a baby wallaby in Washington Square Park and on a subway earlier this month, Humane Long Island contacted the NYPD Animal Cruelty Investigations Squad, launched an investigation, and set up patrols at the park and on Coney...
by John Di Leonardo | Aug 15, 2023 | Victories
Following numerous complaints from Humane Long Island, Sloth Encounters owner Larry Wallach was yet again cited by USDA APHIS for violations of the Animal Welfare Act in August 2023 after failing to keep a written program of veterinary care for kangaroos, capybaras, a...
by John Di Leonardo | Jul 26, 2023 | Victories
Sloth Encounters owner Larry Wallach has pled guilty to illegal possession with intent to sell Nile monitors, venomous reptiles who grow up to 7ft long. The district attorney’s office sought incarceration, however, the Honorable Judge Jonathan Bloom sentenced...
by John Di Leonardo | Jul 24, 2023 | Victories
Thanks to the bipartisan efforts of Legislators Trish Bergin and Jason Richberg, Suffolk County has adopted IR 1777, a local law to restrict the use of exotic animals in traveling performances. This important bill not only protects the welfare of animals and the...
by John Di Leonardo | Jul 16, 2023 | Victories
An April 12, 2023 USDA APHIS inspection report—which was just released to the public—reports that Sloth Encounters’ owner Larry Wallach was recently cited for mishandling animals after a USDA inspector observed a Sloth Encounters’ employee improperly...
by John Di Leonardo | Jul 11, 2023 | Victories
On July 11, 2023, the Suffolk County Supreme Court found Sloth Encounters and its landlord 777 Chris’s Way, LLC guilty of civil contempt of court, writing: It is the opinion of this Court that the location continues to be operated as a petting zoo under the...
by John Di Leonardo | Jun 7, 2023 | Victories
When Hopscotch Montessori School’s hatching project vendor informed the school that they would no longer be taking back babies when the science experiment was completed, educators scrambled for a backup plan, however, these plans fell through after 4 ducklings...
by John Di Leonardo | May 4, 2023 | Victories
After hearing from Humane Long Island and its international Duck Defenders program, St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School has pledged to end its 40-year tradition of hatching baby ducklings in classrooms! The last eleven ducklings hatched last week are being cared...
by John Di Leonardo | Apr 5, 2023 | Victories
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney has charged multiple Suffolk County businesses with misdemeanors for selling day-old baby chicks in quantities less than allowable by New York State law. “Each spring around Easter time, people purchase newly born...
by John Di Leonardo | Apr 3, 2023 | Victories
Senator Monica R. Martinez introduced bill S6211 which establishes a definition for exotic animals and expands the existing definition of wild animals. The bill further prohibits exotic animals from being harbored, traded, imported, sold or owned as pets in the same...
by John Di Leonardo | Mar 30, 2023 | Victories
Supreme Court Justice Joseph A. Santorelli has granted Islip a Preliminary Injunction against Sloth Encounters and its landlord 777 Chris’s Way, LCC ordering the defendants to “immediately cease any operations that are a violation of the Town of Islip...
by John Di Leonardo | Mar 26, 2023 | Victories
After hearing from Humane Long Island, the Patchogue-Medford Library has pledged that today will be the last time former Iditarod musher Karen Land will speak at the library and has apologized for promoting the Iditarod in materials ahead of her visit. Ms. Land will...
by John Di Leonardo | Mar 9, 2023 | Victories
After hearing how Sloth Encounters’ owner Larry Wallach has been cited for more than 50 federal violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including for lying to USDA inspectors about an incident involving the bite of a child at his illegal Hauppauge facility, the...
by John Di Leonardo | Jan 27, 2023 | Victories
After Humane Long Island informed Best Western Hotels & Resorts that Sloth Encounters’ owner Larry Wallach was hiding baby sloths from federal authorities inside the Best Western Mill River Manor in Rockville Centre, the brand labeled Wallach’s actions...
by John Di Leonardo | Jan 1, 2023 | Victories
After veterinarian Greg Nelson witnessed contractors with the Town of Hempstead removing Monk parakeet, also known as Quacker parrot, nests from light posts at Merrick Road Park and removing the current light system that provided both a platform for nest-building and...
by John Di Leonardo | Dec 29, 2022 | Victories
Plans are underway to rescue more than 100 domestic ducks abandoned outside of The Barn Restaurant in Smithville, Ohio after Wooster residents Maiara and Helder Bertolucci braved thin ice to rescue two ducks frozen to the icy pond outside the restaurant on Christmas...
by John Di Leonardo | Dec 16, 2022 | Victories
Governor Hochul has signed the Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act, ending the manufacture and sale of cosmetic products in New York State that have been tested on animals starting in January 2023! Thanks to Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal, Senator Alessandra Biaggi, and...
by John Di Leonardo | Dec 15, 2022 | Victories
Governor Hochul has signed S.1130/A.4283 into law, which will prohibit the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits by retail pet shops in New York state starting in 2024. Thousands of pet stores across the country have already evolved to no longer sell animals from...
by John Di Leonardo | Dec 9, 2022 | Victories
After Save the Geese Bloomsburg sounded the alarm that USDA APHIS Wildlife Services would be removing up to 70 domestic ducks from Fairground Road Park in East Buffalo Township, Humane Long Island’s Duck Defenders program offered a solution beneficial for both the...
by John Di Leonardo | Nov 29, 2022 | Victories
Following a complaint filed by Humane Long Island, the Cabana restaurant in Long Beach was issued a warning by the Nassau County Department of Health for allowing Sloth Encounters to exhibit sloths in its dining area in violation of Section 14-1.183 of the New York...
by John Di Leonardo | Oct 19, 2022 | Victories
On International Sloth Day 2022, Sloth Encounters owner Larry Wallach planned to haul two baby sloths to the Bethpage Equestrian Center for “baby sloth selfies,” however, following Humane Long Island’s plans to protest and meeting with the...
by John Di Leonardo | Oct 3, 2022 | Victories
An August 10th inspection report—which was just released to the public—shows that Sloth Encounters was cited for interfering with APHIS inspectors carrying out their duties and for handling animals in a way that is dangerous to the animals and the public, apparently...
by John Di Leonardo | Sep 15, 2022 | Victories
A Suffolk County Supreme Court judge has ordered Sloth Encounters—an illegal business that subjects sensitive sloths, including vulnerable babies, to grabbing hands, noisy crowds, and ramshackle cages during daylight hours when these animals would naturally be...
by John Di Leonardo | Sep 1, 2022 | Victories
Following protests and complaints filed by Humane Long Island, the Town of Islip is taking Sloth Encounters to court, slapping the illegal business with four court appearance tickets for possession of wild animals, occupancy of a building without fire marshal...
by John Di Leonardo | Aug 20, 2022 | Victories
After Bayport resident Karen Hill Maloney discovered more than one hundred Snapping turtle hatchlings killed on the front lawn of the recently mowed Meadow Croft Estate in Sayville, Humane Long Island launched an investigation and contacted the Suffolk County Parks...
by John Di Leonardo | Aug 1, 2022 | Victories
Following protests and official complaints from Humane Long Island, Sloth Encounters has been issued notices of violations for possession of wild animals, change of use without a permit, lack of fire extinguishers, lack of carbon monoxide detectors and for electrical...
by John Di Leonardo | Jul 28, 2022 | Victories
While on a run at Norman J. Levy Park & Preserve in Merrick, a veterinary technician stumbled upon the grisly body of a yellow warbler stuck to a glue trap along with countless insects literally pulling themselves limb from limb trying to escape the torturous...
by John Di Leonardo | Jul 22, 2022 | Victories
Following inquiries made by Humane Long Island, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services cited Sloth Encounters – which subjects sensitive sloths, including vulnerable babies, to grabbing hands, noisy crowds, and ramshackle cages during daylight hours...
by John Di Leonardo | Jul 14, 2022 | Victories
After Humane Long Island received reports from local wildlife rehabilitators that birds were becoming entangled and killed in the tattered anti-bird netting at the Brittania Yachting Center in Northport, Humane Long Island reached out to the owner with an urgent...
by John Di Leonardo | Jun 22, 2022 | Victories
After resident Bonnie Tischler discovered several ducks and roosters suffering from severe confinement and extreme neglect at the Santos White Community Garden on Coney Island, Humane Long Island worked with the New York Police Department and New York Animal Care...
by John Di Leonardo | May 6, 2022 | Victories
For the past three years, the Town of Babylon has been considering slashing its setback for keeping fowl from 100 feet to 10-15 feet, a change that would not only allow nearly everyone in the town to keep birds in cramped, filthy spaces without adequate space to roam,...
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