The TIMES of Smithtown
Volume 28, No. 50
CHARIOT COLLISIO N CENTER We work with
Serving Smithtown • St. JameS • neSconSet • commack • hauppauge • kingS park • Fort Salonga February 11, 2016
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Love My Pet
Also: Tiny gardens, Huntington Station Winter Farmers Market, review of ‘The Finest Hours’
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Snowstorms smack Smithtown Photo from Jeff Bressler
members of the Smithtown Fire Department respond to a motor vehicle accident during a snowstorm this week. with heavy and wet snow falling the fire department spent the morning of Feb. 5 answering numerous calls for wires down, motor vehicle accidents and smoke incidents inside homes.
Smithtown animal shelter partners with school By alex petroSki
West swishes win
Smithtown West girls’ basketball edges Centereach, heads to playoffs
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The Smithtown Animal Shelter and Adoption Center is joining with Commack Middle School and Dr. Michael Good, the founder of an initiative called Homeless Pet Clubs, in an effort to find homes for animals. Good flew in from Atlanta, Ga., to speak to a group of about 30 Commack middle schoolers on Thursday afternoon in the school’s auditorium. Good, a veterinarian, formed the Homeless Pets Foundation — a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization — in 1998, according to its website. In 2010, Good started Homeless Pet Clubs as an adjunct to his foundation. The clubs are meant to encourage and organize students and community members to spread the word about specific animals
cause Four paws co-director Jason Fluger with his dog Brooklyn.
that are in local shelters, in the hopes of finding suitable homes for adoption. In an interview after the presentation, Good told the story of how he was inspired to start Homeless Pet Clubs a few years ago. He was attending an event for kindergarten age
students designed to answer questions about a veterinarian’s job and what it entails. After about two hours of young children telling stories about their pets, rather than asking questions about becoming a vet, Good was hit with a stroke of inspiration, he said.
Photo by alex Petroski
“What if we could get millions of kids all over this country telling stories about animals that don’t have homes?” Good asked. “That was the foundation of my Homeless Pet school clubs, and it has worked fabulously.” SHeLTeR continued on page a8