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Animal Rights Activists Disrupt Foie Gras Tasting Event at David Burke Tavern

October 29, 2022 by Comments are off for this post


The News

Animal rights activists with PETA and Humane Long Island’s Duck Defenders project  disrupted a foie gras tasting event at David Burke Tavern, an American restaurant on the Upper East Side of New York. The owner, David Burke, dubbed the $250 per person event “FoieGone,” a reference to the upcoming ban on the sale of the fatty liver product in New York City.

The activists chanted “David Burke has Blood on His Hands” and “Foie Gras is Animal Cruelty” while walking through the restaurant and halfway up the stairs, where restaurant employees blocked their passage. While some patrons were disturbed by the protest, several asked questions during the disruption and expressed their support of the message as they exited the restaurant. (Activists suspect that the individuals who expressed their support did not partake in the foie gras tasting event, which was held in one section of the restaurant).

Photo of Chef David Burke and duck force fed for foie gras

Animal rights activists protested a $250/person foie gras tasting event hosted by David Burke at David Burke Tavern in NYC

Foie gras, or fatty liver, is produced by inserting pipes down the throats of geese and ducks and force feeding them until their livers expand to ten times their normal size. The ducks and geese, who are aquatic animals, spend their lives inside of factory farms.

Photo of news coverage of PETA foie gras protest

A neighborhood media outlet reported on the foie gras protest at David Burke Tavern, an Upper East Side restaurant that hosted a foie gras tasting event

In 2019, New York City lawmakers voted to ban the sale of foie gras. At the time, an estimated 1,000 restaurants sold foie gras in New York City, according to the NY Times. The bill was passed and signed into law despite criticism from prominent chefs and the media. The historic foie gras bill would not have been introduced, much less passed, by the City Council, were it not for a two year campaign waged by Voters for Animal Rights (VFAR), a group that advocates for animal rights legislation in NYC. With the support of hundreds of grass roots animal rights activists, VFAR partnered with animal rights groups, veterinarians, and restaurants to create a coalition of supporters who lobbied City Council members and educated the public about the cruelty associated with foie gras production.

Photo of Foie Gras tasting event

David Burke Tavern hosted a $250/person foie gras tasting menu in advance of a ban on the sale of foie gras in NYC.

The ban of the sale of foie gras was supposed to take effect on November 25th, 2022. On September 15th, a New York State Supreme Court judge issued an injunction, ruling that La Belle Farm and Hudson Valley Foie Gras can continue to sell the fatty livers to NYC restaurants while the case makes its way through the judicial system. The foie gras producers sued the city, citing economic hardship and claiming that the City Council exceeded its authority by making law about farming practices outside the city.

Photo of animal rights activists protesting foie gras

Animal rights activists with PETA and Humane Long Island (aka Duck Defenders) protested a foie gras tasting event at David Burke Tavern in NYC

If the courts overturn the law banning on the sale of foie gras, animal rights groups will continue to protest the restaurants that sell it until they remove the “delicacy of despair” from their menus.


Why is the Humane Society of New York Warehousing Animals?

October 24, 2022 by 7 comments


The News

In April 2020, adoptions at the Humane Society of New York (HSNY), large and prominent animal shelter in Manhattan, came to a virtual standstill because the Executive Director, Sandra DeFeo, closed the building to adopters. Almost 2.5 years have elapsed, and nothing has changed. In response to a viral video about the plight of the animals, hundreds of TikTokers posted comments asking why.

DeFeo claims that she is keeping the building closed due to COVID, but, according to whistleblowers and lawyers who corroborated their allegations, she cannot re-open because of violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The building is not wheelchair accessible under ADA guidelines, and allowing members of the public inside without making the required renovations would subject the HSNY to another costly ADA lawsuit. 

Based on feedback from whistleblowers and former employees, activists working on the campaign to help the animals believe that DeFeo is warehousing the animals for one or both of the following reasons: 

1.Facilitating adoptions while the building is closed to adopters is more labor intensive, and DeFeo can’t be bothered.

2. DeFeo is not motivated to do adoptions because she believes the animals are content in their cages, which she describes as “their apartments.” 

Photo of Lila and Teuscher, dogs at the Humane Society of New York

Lila and Teuscher, adoptable dogs, have been living in cages at the Humane Society of New York for over five years

Advocates believe that a lack of accountability has enabled DeFeo to warehouse the homeless animals in her care. When COVID shut down New York City in 2020, the HSNY’s once active Board President, Virginia Chipurnoi, left New York. Since then, she has not responded to letters, phone calls or texts from people with whom she has – or had – personal relationships.  Chipurnoi is 88 years old and is reportedly incapable of supervising DeFeo, much less serving as the HSNY’s Board President. Advocates attempted to contact her two daughters, Alexandra Chipurnoi and Sarah Gore Reeves, both of whom have been a presence at the Humane Society.  Neither has responded to emails or letters sent through regular mail. 

Three of the HSNY’s other board members resigned amid the reports of animal warehousing — Alexandra Rowley, James Gregorio and C. Jones Perry. The other board members are inactive, disinterested and/or elderly. 

Photo of Dr. Ralph Gutierrez, Dr. Ellen Hirshberg, Dr. Shingo Soeda, Dr. Lauren Postler, Dr. Yaron Scmid and Dr. Liz Higgins

Animal rights activists say that the veterinarians who work in the clinic at the Humane Society of New York are complicit in the warehousing of animals at the organization’s adoption center. (From Left to right Ralph Gutierrez, Ellen Hirshberg, Shingo Soeda, Lauren Postler, Yaron Schmid, Liz Higgins)

In addition to an adoption center, the HSNY operates a low-cost vet clinic, thanks to its generous donors. Six veterinarians work in the clinic, and none of them have addressed the animal warehousing. In a letter to TheirTurn, a whistleblower indicated that the veterinarians are turning a blind eye because they are content to keep the building closed so that clients can’t enter the exam rooms with their animal companions. Whatever the reason, their silence amounts to complicity. Advocates intend to hold Shingo Soeda, Ralph Gutierrez, Ellen Hirshberg, Lauren Postler, Yaron Schmid and Liz Higgins accountable until they use their leverage as veterinarians to compel DeFeo to send the animals to shelters that are open to adopters or to foster homes. 

Photo shows Dr. Lauren Postler, a veterinarian with the Humane Society of New York, hiding her face as she exits the building during a protest in October 2022

Instead of addressing the activists’ concerns, the veterinarians at the Humane Society of New York attempt to hide their faces as they exit the building when protests are taking place (pictured: Dr. Lauren Postler)

Advocates are also holding accountable the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, an organization that has been advocating for NYC’s homeless animals since 2003. The President of the Mayor’s Alliance, attorney Jane Hoffman, has been a leader in NYC’s rescue community for decades, yet she has refused to intervene on behalf of the animals, claiming that she no longer has influence: “I believe I explained what the Alliance was and is now, how my leadership role in the shelter community has changed considerably since we transferred several initiatives to other animal welfare organizations in 2019, and finally, that Sandra DeFeo’s presence as an Alliance Board member does not give me the authority to dictate the internal operations of HSNY.” In response to Hoffman’s refusal to help, advocates launched a petition.

Petition targeting Jane Hoffman, the President of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

Petition calling on Jane Hoffman, the President of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, to intervene on behalf of the cats and dogs being warehoused at the Humane Society of New York

In response to a viral TikTok video that thrust the HSNY into the spotlight, DeFeo posted a statement on the shelter’s Instagram page in which she claims to have facilitated approximately 160 adoptions since March 2020. If that is true (and we believe the number to be much lower), then a large shelter in a busy residential neighborhood that should be adopting out animals every day has facilitated an average of just over one animal per week since closing its doors to adopters.

Photo of TikTok video about animal warehousing at the Humane Society of New York

A TikTok video about an animal warehousing protest at the Humane Society of New York went viral, leading the shelter to post a statement on its Instagram page

In the carefully worded statement, DeFeo attempts to justify the small number of adoptions by claiming to be “diligent,” but advocates argue that there is a big difference between being diligent and making it virtually impossible to adopt. That difference is perhaps best illustrated by what happens when people ring the HSNY’s doorbell to inquire about adoptions and to ask to see the animals. Instead of inviting them inside, a security guard at the entrance gives them a handout about the HSNY’s vet clinic that contains no information about adoptions.

Photo of a Humane Society of New York security guard giving a man who is interested in adoption an animal a handout about the organization's vet clinic

A security guard at the Humane Society of New York gives a man who is interested in adopting an animal a handout about the organization’s vet clinic


Thousands of Chickens Die of Hypothermia During Kaporos in Brooklyn

October 9, 2022 by 12 comments


The News

Thousands of chickens stacked in crates on the streets of Brooklyn died of hypothermia over the course of two days during Kaporos, a ritual animal slaughter that takes place each year in the days leading up to Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. After being delivered to Hasidic neighborhoods in Williamsburg, Borough Park, Crown Heights and Midwood, hundreds of crates filled with chickens were left outside in the rain, soaking tens of thousands of chickens who were being stored without shelter on public streets. 

According to Michael Dolling, who rescues and rehabilitates farm animals, young chickens have difficulty regulating their body temperature. When they are exposed to cold temperatures, wind and rain, they quickly become hypothermic. Upon seeing the wet and shivering animals at several Kaporos sites in Williamsburg, Dolling said that thousands of chickens at those sites alone would be dead within hours. In fact, many of the chickens were already dead — before even being used in the ritual. “In past years, when Kaporos took place in September, thousands of chickens slowly roasted in the crates. This year, they froze to death.”  

Over the course of six days, advocates rescued and saved the lives of 238 chickens who would have otherwise died of exposure or been killed during the Kaporos ritual.  The rescuers used car heaters, towels and blankets to warm the shivering birds while rushing them to a triage center for first aid. There, they used heat lamps, heat plates, hair dryers and warm water bottles to raise their body temperature while administering subcutaneous fluids and medicines to stabilize them.

Photo of some of the chickens rescued during Kaporos in 2022

During Kaporos in 2022, animal rights activists in Brooklyn rescued and saved the lives of 238 chickens who would otherwise have died of hypothermia or been slaughtered.

During Kaporos, ultra-Orthodox, or Hasidic, Jews twirl a live chicken around their head while reciting a prayer asking for forgiveness for their sins. After the ritual, the chickens are killed in one of dozens of makeshift slaughterhouses erected on public streets without permits in violation of 15 city and state health and animal cruelty laws.

Photo of chicken feces on public streets during Kaporos

During Kaporos, a ritual slaughter of chickens before Yom Kippur, residential streets in several Hasidic neighborhoods in Brooklyn are contaminated with chicken feces in violation of multiple city and state health codes.

Instead of shutting down the slaughterhouses and issuing fines, the NYPD provides the Kaporos vendors with barricades, floodlights and a police presence to help facilitate the ritual killing. At some of the Kaporos sites, the NYPD closes down entire public streets. Despite the health code and animal cruelty violations and the lack of permits, the city government subsidizes Kaporos because the Hasidic communities in Brooklyn are a powerful voting bloc. 

Photos of chickens killed during Kaporos in Brooklyn, NY

In 2018, animal rights activists brought dead Kaporos chickens left on the streets of Brooklyn into the NYC Department of Health.

For many years, animal rights activists with the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos protested Kaporos, calling on practitioners to perform the ritual using coins, a commonly used alternative to chickens. Over time, however, the protests, which did not appear to be effecting change, morphed into “chicken care vigils” during which activists provide food and water to the chickens in the crates.

@theirturn

Look how hungry they are. See 5th link in bio. #kaporos #yomkippur #animalcruelty #hasidimofbrooklyn #animalsacrifice @nychealthy

♬ original sound – Donny Moss

In 2017 and 2018, animal rights activists in New York City ran a campaign to compel the Health Commissioner at the time, Dr. Mary Bassett, to enforce the health codes violated during Kaporos. In a meeting with Dr. Bassett and other Health Department officials, the advocates presented her with a toxicology report which concluded that  Kaporos poses a “significant public health hazard” based on fecal and blood samples taken from the streets. Indeed, several advocates who have rescued abandoned and sick chickens have contracted e. Coli and campylobacter. Dr. Bassett refused to curb Kaporos, telling the advocates that “no disease signals” had been associated with the practice.

After being subjected to ten months of increasingly provocative protests during her public appearances, Dr. Bassett resigned from her position as Health Commissioner with over three years left in her term and moved to Boston. In anticipation of a protest during a talk that she was giving at the Boston University School of Public Health, Dr. Bassett attempted to defend her inaction on the grounds that her boss at the time, Mayor Bill de Blasio, would not allow it:  “Those of us who work in government face the reality of the fact that the people who appoint us have to go back to the public and back to the ballot box to be reappointed, so there’s always going to be a need for advocacy from people outside of government. For someone who is passionately committed to many issues embraced by advocates, it can be difficult to acknowledge the role that I play as a political appointee. I can’t always be at the barricades.”

Photo of chicken body parts on the sidewalk

Animal rights activists say that, as NYS Health Commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett has an obligation to enforce the health codes and protect the public from another zoonotic disease outbreak

After spending three years in Boston, Dr. Bassett returned to New York in 2021, when Governor Kathy Hochul appointed her State Health Commissioner, a position that gives her more power than before to shut down Kaporos. Activists hoped that the COVID pandemic, which is believed to have originated in a live animal market, would compel Dr. Bassett to curb the practice, as tens of thousands of people without PPE physically handle live animals, many of whom are visibly sick and show signs of respiratory distress.

Photos of toxicology report outlining the risks Kaporos poses to the public health

Mayor de Blasio’s Health Commissioners have refused to address a toxicology report that outlines the public health risks posed by the slaughter of over 100,000 chickens on public streets during Kaporos.

In 2015, an advocacy group called the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos and 19 NYC residents who live in neighborhoods that are contaminated by the mass slaughter sued the City of New York, the NYC Department of Health and the NYPD for failing to enforce the 15 public health, sanitation and anti-cruelty laws and regulations that are violated during Kaporos. Nora Constance Marino, the attorney for the plaintiffs, called on the court to issue a “Writ of Mandamus,” which would compel city agencies to enforce the laws. After two lower courts ruled against the plaintiffs, Marino argued her case in front of the Court of Appeals, which ruled that city agencies have discretion over which laws to enforce.

Activists estimate that at least 100,000 chickens are slaughtered in the streets of Brooklyn each year during Kaporos.


Animal Rights Activists Call on Sarah Gore Reeves and Humane Society of NY Vets to Relinquish “Warehoused” Animals

September 25, 2022 by 4 comments


The News

As part of an ongoing effort to compel the Humane Society of New York (HSNY) and Sarah Gore Reeves, the daughter of its absent board president, to send the homeless animals in their care to other adoption centers or to foster homes, about 30 animal rights activists staged a three hour protest at the prominent shelter and vet clinic on Manhattan’s East Side. It was the fifth such protest at the HSNY, which has been closed to the public for over 28 months and has no plans to re-open, according to its website. A two-month investigation by TheirTurn corroborated the allegations of multiple whistleblowers that adoptions have come to a virtual standstill and that the animals are being warehoused.

In recent months, the activists have turned their attention to the HSNY’s staff veterinarians who they say have the power to compel the organization’s Executive Director, Sandra DeFeo, to send the homeless animals to adoption centers that are open to adopters or to foster homes. Instead of acknowledging the activists’ concerns or disputing the warehousing allegations, the veterinarians have ignored the activists while quickly exiting their building. Activists say that, in the weeks ahead, they plan to further expose the complicity of the six veterinarians — Dr. Shingo Soeda, Dr. Ralph Gutierrez, Dr. Lauren Postler, Dr, Liz Higgins, Dr. Yaron Schmid and Dr. Ellen Hirshberg.

Photo of Dr. Ralph Gutierrez, Dr. Ellen Hirshberg, Dr. Shingo Soeda, Dr. Lauren Postler, Dr. Yaron Scmid and Dr. Liz Higgins

Animal rights activists say that the veterinarians who work in the Humane Society of New York’s clinic are complicit in the warehousing of animals at the organization’s adoption center

The activists have also begun targeting Sarah Gore Reeves, the daughter of the president of the board of the HSNY, Virginia Chipurnoi, who has been silent since the allegations of animal warehousing emerged in July 2021. Activists suspect that Chipurnoi, who is in her late 80s, is either unable to fulfill her duties as board president or is purposely keeping a low profile because the husband of her other daughter, Alexandra Chipurnoi, was sentenced to seven years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme. Reeves, a fashion stylist who has been a presence at the HSNY over the years, has ignored hundreds of letters sent to her by advocates and has instead posted heart emojis on the HSNY’s social media posts.

In August 2022, whistleblowers at the HSNY sent an incriminating letter to TheirTurn encouraging activists to “bring attention to those around Mrs. Chipurnoi’s daughters social circles so they might feel pressured to have their mother handle Sandra.”

Photo of Sarah Gore Reeves

Sarah Gore Reeves, the daughter of Humane Society of New York board president Virginia Chipurnoi, has ignored hundreds of letters from advocates expressing their concern about the animals being warehoused at the prominent Manhattan shelter

During the protests at the HSNY, area residents routinely ask why the shelter is warehousing the animals instead of sending them to facilities that are open to the public. Activists can’t say with certainty what motivates Sandra DeFeo, but they believe the answer is any or all of the following:

  1. DeFeo describes the cages as “apartments” and the shelter as the animals’ “foster home.” She therefore might genuinely believe that keeping the animals in shelter cages indefinitely is humane.
  2. Facilitating adoptions while the building is closed to the public is complicated and labor intensive, as adopters have no practical way to meet the animals, especially the cats, who cannot be brought out into the street.
  3. Many of the HSNY’s donors contribute to the organization because it’s a shelter. If DeFeo empties the cages, then she could no longer raise money off of the animals.
  4. DeFeo doesn’t want to capitulate to the activists.
Photo of animal rights activists protesting at the Humane Society of New York

Animal rights activists stage a moving picket to call attention to the plight of the dozens of animals being warehoused at the Humane Society of New York by Sandra DeFeo, the organization’s Executive Director.

DeFeo claims that the building has been – and will continue to be – closed to the public due to COVID, but whistleblowers and lawyers advising the activists say that DeFeo can’t reopen the building due to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations. The HSNY has already been sued once over its failure to make the building wheelchair accessible. Re-opening to the public without making it accessible would subject the organization to another ADA lawsuit.  Instead of acknowledging the ADA violations and making the renovations, DeFeo is keeping the building closed indefinitely under false pretenses, claiming that she is protecting her staff from COVID. According to whistleblowers, the veterinarians are going along with the lie because they prefer not having their clients in the clinic with their animals. Activists say that the deception has victims — the dozens of animals who have been stuck in cages for more than 28 months and are not being seen by adopters who would otherwise give them a loving home.

Screen grab of a tweet condemning the Humane Society of New York over animal warehousing

Neighbors of the Humane Society of New York are turned away when they attempt to meet the animals who need homes

Since launching the campaign to help the animals in mid-2021, activists have also attempted to engage with members of the HSNY’s Board of Directors. Two of the board members, James Gregorio and Alexandra Rowley, told Bonnie Tischler, who served as Adoptions Director for 22 years before retiring in early 2020, that they would ask DeFeo for proof that adoptions were taking place while the building was closed to adopters. Instead of providing the proof, they resigned and refused to engage any further with Tischler. Tischler and the activists say that Gregorio and Rowley’s decision to resign and walk away from the problem did nothing to help the animals who were warehoused on their watch.

Your Turn

Please send automated letter to Sarah Gore Reeves and other HSNY decision makers calling on them to send the homeless animals at the Humane Society of New York to adoption centers that are open to adopters and/or to foster homes.

Photo of email petition to Sarah Gore Reeves

Click image to send automated letter calling on Sarah Gore Reeves and other Humane Society of New York decision makers to send the homeless animals at the shelter to adoption centers that are open to adopters and/or to foster homes

 


Humane Society of New York Employees Send Incriminating Letter to Activists

September 9, 2022 by 3 comments


The News

Angered that animal rights activists are calling out the names of veterinarians and other staff members as they exit the building, employees at the Humane Society of New York (HSNY) sent an anonymous letter to TheirTurn calling on the protesters to instead confront the Executive Director, Sandra DeFeo, about the warehousing of animals at the prominent Manhattan shelter.

To our surprise, the employees incriminate the HSNY in the letter, confirming the allegations that DeFeo is warehousing animals (and passing off breeder dogs as rescues, a secondary issue). Following are excerpts from the employees’ letter:

EMPLOYEES: “Look at the most recent Instagram post by HSNY with dogs Lila and Teuscher. Both have been at HSNY since 2016. They can’t possibly be that difficult to find experienced owners for.”

OUR REACTION: Lila and Teuscher are two of many animals who have been needlessly living in the HSNY’s cages for years. (Note: Even when the building was open to the public, Sandra DeFeo, the Executive Director, often discouraged adopters from rescuing animals, according to people who contacted TheirTurn. Until early 2020, however, Adoptions Director Bonnie Tischler was there to neutralize Sandra and place the animals into homes.)

Excerpt of letter from Humane Society of New York whistleblowers to animal rights protesters

In an angry letter to TheirTurn calling on animal rights activists to protest the Executive Director, Sandra DeFeo, instead of staff members, the writer incriminates the HSNY by acknowledging that the animals are being warehoused

EMPLOYEES: “How does Bonnie know that cats stay in cages 23.5 hours a day? Because that’s how it was when she was here.”

OUR REACTION: This is an acknowledgment that cats are, in fact, kept in cages for 23.5 hours a day. (Note: “Bonnie” refers to Bonnie Tischler is the former Adoptions Director who retired in early 2020 and is speaking out on behalf of the animals. When Bonnie worked at the HSNY, she ran a robust volunteer program that enabled the animals to spend long periods of time outside of their cages each day. Sandra DeFeo disbanded the volunteer program when she shut down the building.)

The Humane Society of New York's website states that the building is closed due to COVID for the "foreseeable future."

The Executive Director, Sandra DeFeo, claims that it’s closed due to COVID, but lawyers have advised the activists that it’s closed due to violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The building is not ADA compliant for people who use wheelchairs, and the HSNY already settled one lawsuit.

EMPLOYEES: “Why didn’t Bonnie do anything during her years to stop the relationship with backyard breeders Brenda and Sadarra Serrano of Brooklyn?

OUR REACTION: This is an acknowledgement that Sandra takes in breeder dogs and passes them off as rescues. (Note: Bonnie has told the activists that, when she ran the Adoptions Department, she pled with Sandra to pull animals from ACC instead of taking in breeder dogs from the Serranos.)

The Humane Society of New York passes off breeder dogs as rescues

The Humane Society of New York passes off breeder dogs as rescues. (Click image to play video.)

EMPLOYEES: “It’s not right to tarnish the reputations of the veterinarians. Please leave them out of this. They do not have the power to change the way Sandra does anything. No one does, except maybe Lowell, Lexi Montgomery or Richard Phibbs. Not even Bill [Berloni], Anne-marie or Dr. Schmid can get through to her.”

OUR REACTION: Veterinarians take an oath to prevent and relieve animal suffering, yet the vets at the HSNY have been turning a blind eye to animal cruelty under their own roof since April 2020, when Sandra closed the building to the public. (Note: The nationwide shortage of veterinarians gives them leverage. They can insist that Sandra send the animals to adoption centers that are open to adopters or to foster homes. Until they do, they are accountable.)

Shingo Soeda, Lauren Postler, Yaron Schmid, Ellen Hirshberg, Ralph Gutierrez

Advocates argue that the veterinarians who work in the Humane Society of New York’s clinic are turning a blind eye to the warehousing of animals in the organization’s shelter, where adoptions came to a virtual standstill 28 months ago when the Executive Director, Sandra DeFeo, closed the building to the public. The veterinarians pictured are Shingo Soeda, Lauren Postler, Yaron Schmid, Ellen Hirshberg and Ralph Gutierrez. Not picture: Elizabeth Higgins.

EMPLOYEES:  “To heckle and harass the current support staff is directing your efforts in the wrong direction. They are earning their livelihoods to support their families and just doing their jobs. Their paychecks depend on them keeping quiet and staying in line.”

OUR REACTION: This statement is another acknowledgment that animal warehousing is taking place. If Sandra was doing adoptions, then these employees would have made that point in the letter. (Note: We agree that protesting the support staff is misguided, as Sandra could fire them if they express their concerns. We will therefore direct our protests toward the veterinarians and other senior staff members who have the power to speak out on behalf of the victims.)

EMPLOYEES: “Why not protest outside Sandra’s Riverdale home? Or focus efforts on other board members? Bring attention to those around Mrs. Chipurnoi’s daughters social circles so they might feel pressured to have their mother handle Sandra. Sandra needs to be your sole target.”

OUR REACTION: We’re not going to take advice on strategy from people who are only speaking out because they are angry about the protests, not the cruelty that led to them. That said, we have been contacting and, in some cases, protesting, the Board of Directors throughout 2022.  The once active president of the board, Virginia Chipurnoi, has been conspicuously silent since a whistleblower sounded the alarm about animal warehousing in July 2021. Humane Society insiders speculate that she has keeping a low profile because her daughter’s husband was sentenced to seven years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme in which his family members were victims.

The husband of Virginia Chipurnoi daughter, Alexandra, is a convicted felon

Humane Society of New York insiders speculate that the board president, Virginia Chipurnoi, has stayed out of the spotlight at least in part because her daughter Alexandra’s husband, Alvin Wilkinson, was sentenced to seven years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme. According to court documents, Chipurnoi and Wilkinson are now divorced.

After Chipurnoi failed to respond to inquiries from people who she knows personally, activists sent letters by email and regular mail to her two daughters, Alexandra Chipurnoi and Sarah Gore Reeves, both of whom have been a presence at the HSNY over the years. Neither has responded, but both have engaged with the HSNY’s social media posts, which only serves to legitimize the organization as a bona fide adoption center.  We therefore agree with the HSNY employees’ suggestion to hold them accountable.

Sarah Gore Reeves and Alexandra Chipurnoi help legitimize the HSNY as a bona fide adoption center despite the fact that adoptions came to a virtual standstill 28 months ago

Despite the fact that they know that adoptions at the HSNY came to a virtual standstill 28 months ago when it closed its doors to the public, Sarah Gore Reeves and Alexandra Chipurnoi, the daughters of board president Virginia Chipurnoi, have helped to legitimize the HSNY as a bona fide adoption center by posting compliments on the organization’s Instagram page. They have not responded to letters sent by activists via email and regular mail.

As activists began to protest animal warehousing at the HSNY, three members of its board of directors resigned — Alexandra Rowley, James Gregorio and C. Jones Perry.  The board appears to be effectively defunct. The absence of supervision has enabled DeFeo, who describes the shelter as the animals’ “foster home” and the cages as “apartments,” to keep the building closed under false pretenses and to warehouse the animals indefinitely.