Julie Van Ness Hearts and Homes Animal Shelter of Brooklyn, Mel Salamone Julie Van Ness Shelter Reform Advocate ASPCA AC&C Mayor's Alliance for Animals Animal Care and Control NYC Sara Whalen Pets Alive PetsAlive.com
Press call 917 754-3537
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Thank you for all your e-mail and phone calls of support. The Internet is burning up with this story.
November 11
I don't know how much longer I can keep this page up. I am the technical and administrative contact for this domain but they can probably have the site back. Once the site goes down, go here for updates.
Michael JP, Todd's ex-landlord tells me that when they moved out of his apartment last month they left two parrots and two turtles. They need homes. Landlord cannot keep them. He fortunately realized the turtles were exotic and could not be let out into the Prospect Park Lake for they would die in the cold weather. Any bird or turtle people out there, can you take them in?
November 12
Ex members of the Hearts and Homes Organization meet at Mike Pergola's home. I bring them up to date on the phone conversations I have had with the Attorney General's Office, and the District Attorney's office, who are now vigorously investigating Mel and Todd. Now that the Attorney General has opened a probe we can go to the papers with this story. The ex-members had a dream you see. A self-sufficient, community oriented, all volunteer animal shelter. Todd and Mel have derailed this dream and they will pay for it. The new organization is called Brooklyn Rainbow Animal Rescue. We will continue to hold benefits until we can raise $20,000 to open a new shelter. It may take a year but there will be a phoenix rising out of these ashes.
It is my belief that Mel and Todd never intended to open a shelter. I think they wanted to open a boarding and grooming facility. They misrepresented to the public straight down the line. This is a poster that I made to advertised a benefit where we raised $3500. Where is the money.
We decided not to change the link at http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=1&pet.Shelterid=NY196&sort=pet.Identifier&preview=1 to redirect to the actual Heartsandhomes.org homepage. We don't want to impede any possible adoptions.
A few words about Dianne, the nice lady who sits there 10 hours in all weather showing dogs for Todd. She is completely innocent of any abuse or neglect. She is paid $20. a day to sit there for Todd. She is living on disability and needs every penny she can get. Please don't berate her.
I'll be talking with the Attorney Generals 'office today. Here's more fodder. A van that was donated for animal transport by a company in Manhattan, just found out Mel gave it to his brother Anthony for his scrap metal business.
From a woman who tried to foster a dog:
"Greetings!
I just called Mr. Puma to see if i could foster a dog..he said that they
hadn't opened the shelter to the public. i offered to volunteer--He told
me he has 25 dogs (800square feet space) and some are loose b/there
aren't enough cages-the cost of the cages are $1000 each) <WHAT
A LIAR. THE SQUARE FOOTAGE IS OVER 3000FT. – Laurie> -He
also mentioned that he can't have more than 3 volunteers at the same time
b/ppl trip over each other and when he lets the dogs out...the ppl behind
his building complain (he said it was a business district) due to the
barking..
He mentioned your name...as someone trying to sabotage his business- <NOTICE
HOW HE REFERS TO THE SHELTER AS A BUSINESS? – Laurie>He
claimed ppl where wanting to foster and he would loose the pets...Now,
I asked..Isn't it a good thing that they actually got a home?"- The
whole things sounded fishy....He explained that prior to this location
he had the dogs living in his home...now, when i told him, i had 4 dogs,
two cats, one ferret and a bird..in a space a lot bigger than his, with
one acre of land for them to run in..and how could he keep that many animals
(in a home he insisted ppl would have never guessed there was a pet)and
keep the place so neat...<LOOK
AT THE PICTURES OF HIS HOME -Laurie> He hung up after that,
and I politely left a message, saying that we must have been cut off,
but I would love to volunteer..."
From a woman who adopted a dog:
"Actually I am very surprised about this. I fostered from them about a year ago. The foster dog I kept thank god after hearing all this! I love him to death. This explains his behavior. I have been trying to figure out why he follows me around like a kid. He is also overly protective with me. No one can come near me with him. Everyone who meets him says he has to have been mistreated for him to be like this. Also when I had started fostering him he looked thin. I asked Jamie why he was so thin. He said that's his normal weight. He looked underweight to me.
I had noticed when I brought him home that he was always scratching. I then realized he had fleas. I was very upset because I have 4 cats and another dog. I brought him to the vet and the vet said he was underweight and had fleas. Other then that he was fine. I ran a full blood and he was fine. I want to thank you for letting me know this because I was making arrangement with them to put my animals in foster care until I returned when I was leaving for the military."
November 17
From Mike Pergola-ex member of Hearts and Homes—here's how they fooled so many of us, including Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz!
Let's say
you find a stray dog or cat. You don't want to call the CACC because that's
a death sentence. No one else will help you and so you call Hearts and
Homes for Homeless dogs. They say they will be right over. They come by,
pick up the dog/cat and you are so relieved and delighted that you give
them a $40 donation. You tell your friends how wonderful they are. Well,
you've been had. For years now this organization has been scamming the
good folks of Brooklyn with their tables at Court Street and Joralemon
Street. Its like a shell game. No one bothers to check on these dogs so
they fall through the cracks and are gone. Some are actually dropped off
with homeless people. Most aren't fixed and actually add to the stray
population by being allowed to breed. And some even are allowed to die
horrible deaths. The bare minimum are relocated, because after all the
scam has to continue. No records are kept. They are "disappeared."
All under the watch of Hearts and Homes for Homeless dogs of Brooklyn.
In the worst story we've heard to date Mel dropped off a pregnant Pit Bull, Sugar, at the home of a September 11th widow of a Brooklyn Fireman. Left alone with a 1 year old and a 3 year old she was assured that all she would be providing was shelter for this sweet dog. The woman had donated over $12,000 to Hearts & Homes. You can probably guess by now what happened. The day Mel dropped off the dog was the last time the widow heard from him. No money for food. No help with the walks. No help with vet bills. No help finding a home for the mother or the puppies. Another Hearts and Homes driveby.This is a typical Hearts and Homes rescue!!!
Sugar had 12 puppies and was a fantastic mommy! After all the sadness
that September 11th brought us, Sugar's 12 little angels made us all smile
again. What a gift that was. The new puppies gave us something to take
our minds off things. 12 mouths to feed was a big chore, Sugar couldn't
do it all, so the neighborhood got together and we made it work. It was
something to see, really The good people around the woman gave of themselves
and soon 12 good homes were found for the puppies. But to this day Mel
and Todd of Hearts and Homes know nothing about their condition, their
whereabouts. Nor do they care. They only wanted to secure the donation,
so they pimped their dog by preying on the goodness in people's hearts.
I know there is a special place in Hell waiting for these bastards.
But Sugar wasn't so lucky. This sweet girl who was so trusting
that she let perfect strangers catch her pups as they were being born
needs our help. She had been placed with a family and the owners moved
without forwarding an address. We received a call this past Thursday morning
that she was scheduled to be put down Friday morning. She was a symbol
of hope and had given us a reason to go on after September 11, a reason
to put one foot in front of the other and realize that yes, we were shaken
by that day but there were still puppies in the world, still lost dogs
that needed a home and that's as good a reason as I can think of for getting
up in the morning!
Sugar is back with us now in a temporary setting and she is safe. She
is safe because she is as far away from Hearts and Homes as possible.
And the ironic thing about this story is that we found out that she was
given to a homeless man who allowed her to get pregnant in the first place.,
after being rescued by this sham of an organization.
November 19
A Letter from Regina
After speaking
with you and reading the literature you have sent me I must say that I
am not surprised. I met Mel in 2000. He asked for my assistance with dogs
living on 6th Street between 2nd and 2rd Avenues. To this date he has
done nothing to help them. The dogs were relocated to 9th Street and 2nd
Avenue where they remain with their homeless owner. One year ago I asked
Todd to give them water on a daily basis since I reside in Queens..to
this date he has not. I purchased two dog houses for these dogs and Mel
began to tie dogs to the dog houses in the hopes I would take them. Mel
left a pregnant pit bull at the location on 9th Street and she gave birth
at that location. The puppies were stolen. I removed the mother, had her
spayed and she was adopted. Mel also left a white un spayed pit bull at
the location I could not take her but I spayed her and returned her to
the location. Mel also deceived many about Lily. Now that all is out in
the open and the authorities are investigating you can start to rebuild
your organization.
Regina Massaro
Spay Neuter Intervention Project
Laurie Replies - Regina- I have no intention of rebuilding Hearts and Homes We have begun a new organization— Brooklyn Rainbow Animal Rescue—and we will hold benefits all year until we have raised enough money to open a new shelter at another location.
November 25
We are in the process of assembling a list of anyone who ever tried to volunteer at the shelter and what the response from Todd Puma was. Please e-mail me with any stories you think should be put up there We are also trying to ascertain the amount of money in cash that was donated to Todd or Mel in the name of Hearts and Homes. If you donated by check or money order, fax it to me at 718 789-1465. This is information is needed by the Attorney General's Charities division.
From one
potential volunteer
I received your e-mail on October 11 to call Todd at the shelter if I
was interested in serving as a foster home. Since it was Columbus Day
and I thought the shelter might be closed for the holiday, I waited until
Tuesday October 12 to call Todd. On October 12 when I telephoned the number
that you e-mailed me, a man answered the phone. I asked for Todd and the
man said he was Todd. I explained that I had gotten the phone number from
you and was calling to volunteer as a foster home for cats or dogs. I
asked what the procedure was for bringing an animal into my home, if the
shelter would deliver the animal to my home since I don't have a car,
and if the shelter was located within walking distance if I would be responsible
for transporting the animal. He asked where I lived and I told him I was
in Park Slope. He said he lived in Park Slope so dropping off an animal
would not be a problem because he would bring ! it to my home. I told
him I was currently cat-sitting and then going out of town for a long
weekend but would be back the following Tuesday October 19 and available
to take a cat or dog. He told me that dogs are not placed in foster homes
for short periods because they require a longer term commitment. I found
this odd but if that was the shelter's policy, so be it. I then asked
about taking a cat and he said that sometimes there is an overflow situation
at the shelter and he might need someone to take a cat overnight or for
a short time. I told him that since I am currently unemployed and home
all day, I could take an animal on short notice so that sounded like a
good possibility. He told me to call back when I would be available for
fostering. I reminded him that I was available the following week and
suggested that he take down my phone number and call me instead. Other!
places where I've offered to volunteer are usually so happy for the h
elp that they want to get my name and number so they don't lose out on
an opportunity. I was, therefore, taken aback by his attitude. He reluctantly
and hurriedly took down my number. Throughout our conversation Todd seemed
a little perturbed but I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he was
in the middle of something when I called or having a bad day. Since I
felt that I got the brush off by Todd and was disappointed with the outcome
of my attempt to serve as a foster home, I e-mailed you that same day
to report my conversation with him since you were the person who recommended
that I call him. Subsequently I never got a phone call from Todd or anyone
else associated with the shelter.
From another potential volunteer
The first time I called to find out he was short, grouchy, and disoriented - he told me he didn't have the ventilation system wasn't installed yet and call back in a few weeks. About a month or so later I called again and asked for Laurie - he said you were no longer with them and they were restructuring the whole volunteer system and to call back in a few weeks again- he was again really snotty.. I said I was available to foster animals if needed - I could tell he wasn't taking my request at all seriously and knew he would never call me - he was gruff and rude. Ivy Lofberg Sklawer
November 26
Many of you may have seen the article done by the Brooklyn Skyline Paper. They made this situation seem like an internal squabble. Firstly, this great "investigative" paper called 24 hours before they went to tell them they were coming in the next day for their side of the story. This gave them 24 hours to clean up the squalor in the shelter. A paid volunteer called me to tell me they told her to get over to the shelter. It was an emergency that they had to clean up fast. Todd told the person very excitedly that even Mel and Roseann were coming over to clean up. When the reporter came she saw a relatively clean shelter. When she asked why the cats were in the pitch black, she was told it was because cats are nocturnal and they like it that way. She believed them because she never mentioned it in the article. Mel even admitted that he had indeed used $7,000 of Hearts and Homes money to pay down the mortgage. He scoffed it off that he was a bad businessman. First of all, why was Mel even there. He has had nothing to do with Hearts and Homes for over a year and half when he moved out to the Island. He never attended one board meeting. He didn't even attend the last 4 benefits. He was there because he is running scared. We tallied up all the missing money and it actually comes out to almost $20,000. (ADEMDUM: NOVEMBER 29: $25,728.62+) It didn't go to vets because they owe every vet in town. It didn't go toward insurance, or the runs Todd promised would be built in the back for the dogs.. No ventilation systems. By the way, that is the right ventilation system for the place. Lies, lies, lies. Many animals are being adopted without being vetted or neutered. After their interview with the reporter, I asked her if she saw the back. She said no. I had told her to look in the back. The volunteer told me that it was wall to wall in diarrhea and broken florescent glass was everywhere. This "investigative" reporter didn't even go to the apartment where Todd kept the animals in the most horrific conditions. Click here to see the apartment photos. Great reporting from a small town reporter. Now I know not to believe everything I read in that paper.
Mike Pergola and other ex members of Hearts and Homes are preparing a full rebuttal to this article. I am in Florida and have not seen the article. It was read to me by phone. At any rate what will get them in the end is the misappropriation of funds.
November 28
A rebuttal to the Brooklyn Skyline Article
Click on yellow areas for point by point responses
More of where Hearts and Homes donations has been going since I started fundraising for them. Even though the address still says 4810 Surf Ave. the payments were made for Mel's home in Mastic, Long Island. In the Skyline article Mel admits his home is not a sanctuary.
November 27
Todd Puma claims I only brought in $6,000 to the shelter this summer. He told this to a reporter from one of the top three NYC newspapers and it will appear as his quote.
The following is a count of money brought in this summer by my efforts.
From PayPal this summer.
$3868.62 (Since Dec 5, 2002 $12,399.81) From Judith Stern and Jane Gillman
$2,000 From the auction of a donated Peter Max painting
$1,650 From Marge M. to place her cat
$1,000 From Mike Pergola's yard sale:
$1,000 From Dagne
$1,060 Laurie Bleier
$6,650 Laurie Bleier Toner, printing equipment, loans to Todd for cell phone and electric Approx. $1,650 From The Stray Pride Benefit
$3384 From The Holy Mutrimony Benefit
$2,500 From The Rock And Roll Over Benefit
$1,500 From The Dionne Warrick Concert sponsored by Marty Markowitz $800 Several street fairs and Senator Golden Parks Events $1,200 From the Corporate Sponsorship Program
$3,000 From the NYC Pet Store Program $1160.00 Grand Total
$30.889.36
A far cry from $6,000. And all of this is being documented.
I paid the security deposit personally: $2,200. I negotiated the first and second months rent for free (June and July). I paid personally for August ($2,200) That takes us to September and October which they paid. ($4,400.) As far as I know November has not been paid. That means that out of $29,728.62 plus hundreds in checks mailed to me at my home and delivered to Todd, they paid a total of $4,400 in rent from donations. They spent $1,800 on dry wall and a fence to go around the backyard. And I’m told they paid $500. for trash removal. That leaves $23,028.62+ unaccounted for. Not to mention the 100 donation cans I paid for and are now scattered throughout Brooklyn stores. Not to mention the $60 to $100 they receive in their donation bottle at their table every day of the week. All cash. All gone.
The above does not include the World Trade Center Fireman's widow donation which went to the Shur-line Crates $10,000 Countless checks that I gave Todd to deposit that were mailed to my house and given to Todd
in the hundreds
Do you know how many reputable shelters could have used this money?
BELOW PAYPAL ACTIVITY FROM EARLY SUMMER TO WHEN I RESIGNED
From Dec 5, 2002 to November 04 $12,399.81 has been earned from Paypal. Where did that money go? We'll let the Attorney General's office figure that out. Phil Garron of the AGA has told me that letters are going out to Todd, Mel and myself.
Where is all the money Mel and Todd. Where is the ventilation system, the insurance, bedding, dog runs for the backyard, the storefront where sales from NYCPet would have helped pay the rent?
What can you do to help the animals at the shelter?
Go to the Hearts and Homes Petfinder section. Call Todd Puma at 718 216-2364. Do not mention that you read this page or heard about this controversy. Just tell him you would like to foster a dog or cat. Let's get all the animals out of the shelter. Call me at 917-754-3537 if he let's you take one and I will help you place it through Petfinder.com. If he refused to give you a dog ask him the following questions. Ask him about his dog Roxie. She lay septic in the shelter for two and half days. He finally took her in to the emergency hospital the night I happened to come by and noticed her there in a corner out of view. She lay there in the corner, no bedding, no blanket. I thought she was dead. Call 718 748-5180. The animal hospital he took her to finally that night. Ask him about the dog JO JO who died of a heatstroke in his over 100 degree apartment the same month he asked me to give him $500 for air conditioning bills.
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