Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Leonard Young, founder and director of “Gimme Shelter,” as well as bartender and dog walker. He said dogs have served as quietly communicative therapists for him after 30 years working in the noisy and oppressive food and beverage industry. He took in his own dog, Goober, after Goober’s owner received a “life changing diagnosis” and could no longer care for him. Because Young adopted her, the owner’s teenage daughters have been able to stay in touch with their dog.
“If we can’t agree on the puppies, what can we agree on?”
Independent Hamden Legislative Council candidate Jay Kaye posed that question while standing outside of a bar where animal rights advocate organization “Gimme Shelter” was hosting a fundraiser. A political fundraiser.
The fundraiser took place this past Friday night at the Playwright on Putnam Avenue. It was officially a Democratic Town Committee fundraiser, but at least outside the pay-gate, it also drew Republican and Independent candidates for municipal offices this year, whom the sponsoring organization —Gimme Shelter — is supporting as well.
It appeared that in Hamden’s hyper-partisan political environment, there was tripartisan agreement on an issue: Hamden needs an animal shelter.
The question of how to establish a shelter — and which political leader would successfully do so — remains unanswered.
Four mayoral candidates— Democratic Town Committee-endorsed Lauren Garrett, Democratic primary challenger Peter Cyr, Independent Party’s Al Lotto, and Republican Ron Gambardella — and a handful of Legislative Council members have all committed to identifying a site, providing a blueprint, and estimating a pricetag for a shelter in their first 100 days in office if elected. Currently Hamden uses a North Haven shelter for animal calls.
Leonard Young, who has observed 17 years of discussion concerning how to create an Hamden animal control facility, said that he has lost confidence in the mayor’s ability and intention to follow through.
Independents Jay Kaye, Tom Figlar, Al Lotto, and Republican Marjorie Bonadies with rescue dog Poppy.
Young is a registered Democrat who said he has voted for incumbent Mayor Curt Leng in the past. Frustrated with delayed plans to open a local shelter, he is now planning fundraisers through Gimme Shelter to raise money for other Democrats as well as Independents, and Republicans — anyone he believes is more likely than Leng to produce a shelter in a timely manner.
“We pay taxes. We all kick in for education … My children have four legs and a tail. There are certain services that should simply be part of a community. Animals deserve a safe home, too,” Young said. He cited the cost of outsourcing crates at out-of-town shelters and public safety concerns as major reasons why he believes Hamden needs to invest in a shelter.
Nora Grace-Flood photo
Behind the scenes: Leonard Young uses a dog treat to get rescue pup Poppy to pose with Hamden Independent and Republican political candidates. “Poppy is a client,” Young explained. He walks her throughout the week.
Republican Legislative Council member Marjorie Bonadies joined Independent candidates Jay Kaye and Al Lotto outside of the Playwright on Putnam Avenue Friday to discuss the importance of a shelter.
“Leng has had six plus years to get this done,” Bonadies asserted. “He’s had ample opportunity.”
Since Leng took office, there have been multiple attempts to put a shelter in place.
In 2015, Hamden bonded $400,000 to build a shelter, which was meant to be cooperatively run between Hamden and North Haven. The Register reported that at that time, Leng said $400,000 wouldn’t be enough to actually build a shelter but that he “wanted to put something down to show residents (the administration) took the need seriously.”
Over the past six years, Hamden has looked into partnering with several neighboring communities. In 2018, Leng said he almost established a regional shelter with Woodbridge, but “unfortunately high costs stopped us.” Then in 2020, Leng suggested that he had found the solution: a pre-fabricated unit that could hold up to 16 crates. It was estimated that the project could cost less than $450,000 if it was built on town land without construction overhead. Leng considered placing the manufactured building on an unused lot adjacent to Brooksvale Park. (The town also used $250,000 of the $400,000 Hamden had bonded for the shelter to expand Brooksvale’s total acreage in 2020).
The Brooksvale plan quickly fell through, as did most other suggested locations, due to various logistical difficulties and Council hesitancy to place an animal shelter in a heavily occupied space meant for scenic outdoor solitude.
In the meantime, Hamden has been paying interest on the original loan while renting crates at various shelters out of town. According to state statute, municipalities are required to either have their own animal control facility or contract to use another town’s. In 2005, Hamden started renting space at the North Haven Animal Shelter. That cost taxpayers on average $70 per day for around 14 years; the town paid $10 per cage and rented seven crates.
Then, in 2019, North Haven ended its contract with Hamden, one month after a dramatic event in which the police were called on Justin Farmer, one of Hamden’s Black council members, for visiting the shelter while advocating to save two dogs placed on death row due to aggressive behavior. (Read a previous story about that here).
That left Hamden out of compliance with the law. In 2020, Leng renegotiated with North Haven and signed a new contract — one that stipulated that Hamden must now pay $15 per hour instead of $10 for the same seven crates.
When more than seven Hamden animals need to be housed in a shelter, the town either finds cages available at other shelters or pays to keep them in area animal hospitals, which charge about $30 per day. For example, in 2016, 18 abandoned cats were discovered without food or water in a Hamden home on Augur Street. Two of them were dead. Animal Control took the other 16 to the Beacon Valley Animal Hospital.
Leng told the Independent that after years of research alongside the Hamden police, Animal Control, and the Engineering Department, he has determined that “building an entire facility, of the quality we want for our animals, without hundreds of thousands of additional dollars of funding is not feasible.”
During a 2019 debate against then Republican mayoral opponent Jay Kaye (who has since switched parties), Leng also said that he could not commit to a strict timeline (at that point, the ask was 60 days to offer a blueprint).
Leng said that his priority is funding a new fire station and expanding the Keefe Community Center — capital projects which he recently announced he does plan to financially support through selling Wintergreen school for $16 million, a deal that’s expected to close in February of 2022. Even still, Leng said that ensuring those projects take place in the next year precedes his ability to make a “hard commitment” to a shelter.
Instead, Leng said that he is “taking a new approach.” He said Police Chief John Sullivan is actively looking for municipal and investment partners to establish a regional shelter, which “seems to be the most achievable, cost effective solution.”
Leng said that the chief is currently talking through possibilities to share a shelter with Branford or New Haven.
Young said that Animal Control is currently forced to “schlep animals” around to find places to keep them, which means additional labor costs and an extra burden for abandoned animals.
He also pointed out that when animals are housed in hospitals, they’re “out of sight and out of mind” of residents. It is important, he argued, for animals to be kept in a space that is centrally located in the community, where potential pet owners can interact with them in order to determine whether their personality will be a good fit for their family.
The number of animals in shelters has been at an all-time low during the pandemic, as many stressed out individuals working from home finally chose to adopt. Young and Independent Party candidates expressed concern about how many animals will soon be abandoned around the area as people return to offices and realize they cannot care for high-maintenance creatures like dogs. The Democratic candidates pointed out that unhoused animals put residents at risk and create public health dangers. Animals may act violently for countless reasons. Or, they may become rabid or sick and pose additional risks for residents who attempt to socialize with or save them.
Lauren Garrett, third from the left, stands with her DTC team at Friday’s fundraiser.
Mayoral candidate Garrett admitted that establishing an animal shelter is a complex task. The main issue, she said, is identifying an appropriate site for the shelter. She still said that the problem underlying the postponement of a shelter has been “consistent indecision and a lack of collaboration and foresight” on the part of Leng.
Justin Farmer, a DTC-endorsed council representative running for reelection, said that there is an abundance of space throughout town that could accommodate a shelter. He pointed to open space on Putnam Avenue, which lies within his own district.
Farmer said that a year ago he reached out to an alder in New Haven to discuss the possibility of partnering with New Haven to create a regional shelter, but that council members and administrators shot down the idea, asserting that they were committed to the idea of creating a separate space within town.
“It’s just talk, talk, talk,” he said
On Friday, Jay Kaye echoed his 2019 stance that an “an animal shelter is not a crazy pie in the sky idea,” and that he believes a shelter could cost under or around $400,000.
Republican mayoral hopeful Gambardella, the only candidate who has outlined even a broad plan for the shelter, suggested different route. His website includes a 14-point proposal to “construct a modern, aesthetically pleasing animal shelter in Hamden,” which includes a field and bleachers for animal shows and fundraisers as well as a memorial wall for pet owners “wishing to memorialize their pets.” Like Farmer, he proposes building it on Putnam Avenue near the Farmington Canal Trail.
Gambardella estimated that his plan would cost between $2.5 and $3 million. He claimed the space could ultimately serve as a source of revenue for the town. “This can be scaled up or down depending on the will of the people. The bottom line is that it will be built,” he said.
“I don’t care what color or shape it is, or whether it’s regional or if it’s Hamden only,” Leonard Young said of the theoretical shelter. “It’s not my job to come up with a plan.” Young said that he has spotlighted several grants that could help fund a shelter and is connected with organizations and companies, like PETCO, that assist in writing applications for funding related to animal rights. Gimme Shelter has raised a total of $30,000 towards a shelter.
On Friday, Gimme Shelter raised over $1,000 for the Democratic Town Committee, which is currently supporting Lauren Garrett and her slate. On Sept. 14, the day of the Democratic Primary, they’ll host another fundraiser for the Republican Party at Ibiza Tapas & Wine Bar. On Sept. 30, they’ll host one more for the Independents at Aunt Chilada’s Mexican Restaurant.
Leng stated that whatever form it takes, the shelter “has to be done right, not shoe-horned into a timeline built for political points.”
Young maintained that Leng has previously promised a shelter but hasn’t provided one. “It’s wrong to use it as part of your platform and then drop it,” he said.