Valley Breeze

8 woonsocket JANUARY 22-28, 2015 | vAlleY bReeze | NoRth smithfield blAckstoNe wooNsocket editioN By SANDY SEOANE valley breeze staff writer sandy@valleybreeze.com WOONSOCKET – The investigation of employees accused of taking food from the Woonsocket Animal Shelter continued this week, while one volunteer came forward in the staff's defense, saying that an excess in donations at the facil- ity often led to redonating of supplies. The Woonsocket Police Department, meanwhile, has been handling animal control calls on a case-by-case basis with help from the Rhode Island SPCA. "We want to try to get this resolved as quickly as pos- sible," Chief Thomas Carey told The Breeze this week, add- ing that the investigation of the two full-time animal control officers who worked at the Cumberland Hill Road shelter is not yet complete. "We get a lot of inquiries because people are concerned about the animals," Carey said. "If there's an emergency we're going to do something." Police are utilizing space in the shelter on an emergency basis, and Carey said two dogs are currently being housed there. Workers from the city's Highway Department have also been stepping in to help with local animals, with three tak- ing training courses put on by the SPCA this week. Volunteer groups have performed mul- tiple clean-ups at the facility since its closure last week. But one longtime shelter volunteer points out that the facility has long been neglected by the city. It survives on dona- tions, she says, and does not always have the space to store all of the materials contributed by donors. "It is because of the generos- ity of the citizens who donated the numerous collars, bags of food, bottles of shampoo, dog houses, cages, toys, and more that the shelter was able to provide for the city's animals," said Lori Denomme in a com- ment on last week's story. "It is because of the overflow of donations that the practice of redonating came to become common." According to reports, the shelter was shut down to initi- ate an investigation of employ- ees who were believed to have taken donated dog food to a home in Burrillville. "On the day that the shelter was closed, there was a palette of cat food in the parking lot of the animal shelter that was donated despite the fact that there was not a single cat in the shelter," Denomme said. The bigger problem, the vol- unteer believes, is neglect and underfunding from the city. "The city has neglected the shelter forcing the clos- ing of the cat room due to a broken heating system ren- dering the room unsafe for cats," Denomme wrote in the comment, also posted on her Facebook page. "They have also allowed the animal control vehicle to fall into complete disrepair and making it deemed unsafe to drive, which forced the officers to use a car with no cages to protect them from possibly viscous animals in the back seat. These are only a few examples of the city's financial neglect of the animal shelter." A plan to build a new ani- mal shelter was listed amid the progress report Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt delivered after her first 100 days in office in March. Volunteers are report- edly in the process of working to create a non-profit organiza- tion with the mission to build a new facility, but it has not yet become an official 501C3. Baldelli-Hunt did not return a call from The Breeze this week about the issue. For Denomme, it seems, the issue is clear. "Redonating food to animals in need is not the problem that needs investigating, the true problem is the lack of funding and lack of accountability on the city's part of the monetary donations given to the animal shelter," she said. "If the shelter is living fruitfully off of dona- tions, where is the budgeted money going? Why is the heat- ing in the cat room allowed to go unfixed and why are our animal officers forced to drive an unsafe car?" Volunteer: 'Redonating' was normal process at neglected animal shelter Mardi Gras Queen contestant HOllEY ANtAYA resides in Cumberland and is employed at DCHN in Woonsocket. She is an active member of St. Joseph's Veterans Association, PARL and Special Olympics of R.I. Antaya enjoys volunteering for chari- table causes and has special interest in animal rescue. She has played Santa for several events and took the "penguin plunge" for Special Olympics. Her hobbies include motorcy- cling, painting, skydiving and she considers herself a do-it- yourself person. She would like to be Queen of the Mardi Gras to be an ambassador to the arts through friends and family. Supporting the arts is close to her heart since she is an artist herself and has friends who also have artistic inclination. Antaya's information was incom- plete in last week's edition of The Valley Breeze. mArDi grAS quEEN cONtEStANt WOONSOCKET – The Environment Council of Rhode Island Education Fund has announced that RiverzEdge Arts Project is one of the winners of the 2015 Loraine Tisdale Environmental Education Awards. Riverzedge will use the funding for their "Improving Culture By Design" project, to support the design and instal- lation of custom recycling and trash receptacles as the final piece of a youth-led land- scape redesign of the front of Woonsocket High School. Other organizations to win the award include The Greene School, which will send students to the 2015 R.I. Compost Conference and put on its own Waste Solutions Summit for schools; and West Greenwich Jr. High School, which will use the funding for planting a Pawpaw Tree Food Forest. Each fall the Environment Council of Rhode Island Education Fund holds an open competition for schools in Rhode Island for the opportu- nity to be funded for a spring environmental project. The group raises funds for the awards program through the annual ECRI Ed Fund Earth Day Raffle. The award is named after a long time Rhode Island educa- tor and environmental activist, Loraine Tisdale, and honors her work by providing resourc- es to schools combining educa- tion with actual improvements in environmental quality in the community. The ECRI Education Fund's mission is to enhance the long- term stewardship of Rhode Island's natural resources through research and educa- tion, and by supporting the development of new genera- tions of environmental stew- ards and leaders. RiverzEdge wins Environment Council of Rhode Island award WOONSOCKET – Our Saviour Church, 500 Smithfield Road, will hold a meat raffle on Friday, Jan. 30, in the church hall. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. and a free light supper including beverages and dessert will be served. The event will feature 10 meat raffles. Tickets are three for $2 for each raffle or pur- chase a meat raffle pass for $20. In addition to the meat prizes, there will also be a breakfast package, two mys- tery envelopes, a bonus prize, consolation and door prizes and raffle baskets. A split- the-pot, penny social and gift card raffle will also be held. Attendees are asked to donate a can of soup and/or box of crackers for the winter food drive. For more information, call Pat at 401-766-5998. Meat raffle at Our Savior Church Friday iN BriEf WOONSOCKET – A Valentine dinner and dance will be held at the Elks Lodge, 380 Social St., on Saturday, Feb. 14. A cash bar will be open at 6 p.m., dinner will be served at 7 p.m. The event will feature entertainment by Barry from DJ Zeal until 11 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person and can be purchased at the lodge or by calling Bobbie at 401-338-7052. All proceeds will benefit the Elks 850 and Emblem Club 27 charities. Valentine dinner- dance at Elks hall While Bradley agreed that the levels have spiked, he pointed to other potential causes including old vehicles and junk left in the woods surrounding the property, and ATVs that blow through the site's silt fences and cause ero- sion and runoff. "We don't have any storm water actually being dis- charged into Booth Pond," Bradley said, "There is a spike, but I don't think it's from us. There are other pos- sible sources of contamina- tion." Overall, Bradley said he believes construction at Dowling Village has done a great job of meeting very high standards. "This is one of the largest construction sites in Rhode Island and if you look at others, they're not going anywhere near the level of oversight and testing that we're doing. It's almost like we're being held to a different standard." 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