New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman called for greater animal safety protections after 155 neglected cats and dogs were rescued from a Long Island hoarder’s house of horrors.
The Nassau County Executive, who is a longtime advocate for animal rights, issued a strong plea on Tuesday at the City of Glen Cove Animal Shelter alongside staffers there and the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)
Blakeman stressed “how important it is to make sure that animals are safe, that they’re cared for, and that they are not neglected or abused” at the press conference held after the arrest of a Glen Clove woman who kept over 150 animals in her home in deplorable conditions.
“We had a recent situation whereby we had over 150 cats that were found in one person’s home. And then the person was breeding them for monetary reasons, allegedly,” the Republican governor hopeful said.
“What we needed at that point was the ability to go in and try to help those cats and find a home for them,” Blakeman added.
Two dogs were also among the animals rescued.
Animal activist and political commentator Rob Becerra doubled down on Blakeman’s statements and called for a statewide animal welfare department.
“We need a Department of Animal Welfare here in the state of New York to oversee all animal-related issues in our state,” Becerra said at the press conference.
“If we have that, we will be able to combat it much easier — the people who are doing illegal backyard breeding, who are hurting these dogs, who are beating these dogs and lighting dogs on fire, which was one of my cases in Queens.”
“We have a moral and ethical obligation to do right by the most defenseless in our society,” he added.
Becerra slammed Gov Kathy Hochul’s administration for being “indifferent” to animal cruelty and said he confronted the lieutenant governor last year at City Hall about a 29-year-old who beat a dog to death and lit the pup on fire.
“I’ve seen people with more expressions when they’re being handcuffed than I saw on her face,” Becerra claimed of the lieutenant governor’s alleged reaction.
“This silver fox over here…we gotta get him in Albany,” the animal activist added, pointing to Blakeman, who is running against Hochul.
Blakeman’s push for greater animal safety was a direct response to Alena Horbatko’s arrest last month after her 18-year-old daughter blew the whistle on the deplorable living conditions within her mom’s urine-infested house of horrors in Glen Cove.
The Nassau County SPCA confirmed to The Post last week that 153 cats and two dogs were rescued from Horbatko’s following her arrest on June 8.
While the Nassau County SPCA is independent of the government, there are limitations on how much authority it has when protecting vulnerable animals.
“I witnessed the SPCA standing there waiting to get that warrant to go through [Horbatko’s] door saying, ‘this time we’re going to get her,’ because they tried time and time again,” a 20-year veteran at the Cove Animal Shelter said at the press conference.
“Unfortunately, the laws are on both sides. But if we can get the law to go more towards the animal side, we would be so grateful,” she said.
Local animal adoption agencies and pet stores have helped the Nassau County SPCA find forever homes for the rescued kitties and dogs, Patch reported — including Allie, an 11-month-old German Shepherd, who was rescued from Horbatko’s house and was in attendance at the press conference.
Horbatko pleaded guilty to 67 counts of torturing or injuring an animal, two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment, and one count of acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17 and was slapped with an animal ownership ban.
She is due back in court on Aug. 10.
