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

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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