Reaching A Monumental Milestone
The North Fork Animal Welfare League Celebrates 60 Years
We have been saving lives for sixty years. Six decades of protecting animals who are in desperate need. This is an anniversary worth reflecting on and celebrating with our community.
As we look back over the years of serving our local community and beyond, saving the lives of countless animals, we realize that every dog or cat who has come through our shelter has been a win for our organization, and of course, for each of them.
In the early days of the North Fork Animal Welfare League, there were challenges to ensure an animal’s protection from poor conditions in an unregulated dog pound. Today, the biggest challenges are centered around funding to cover medical care, nutrition, and the cost of our facilities, which provide a safe and comfortable transition place for them until they find their forever home. No matter what, the common denominator then and now is you. Our East End community along with the dedication of our staff, volunteers, dog trainers, veterinarian team, and groomers – all of you. Thank you for making it happen every single day.
Back in the early 1960s, the Southold Dog Pound could be found at the Town Dump. It was a small, dirty, cinderblock building the size of a tool shed with no air conditioning and a very sad place for an animal to end up.
Along came a very small group of animal lovers who wanted to help the homeless strays in our community and thus formed the North Fork Animal Welfare League (NFAWL). With no funds and no shelter, they began their long, slow journey to provide a decent, temporary home for unwanted animals until their forever home was found. Sixty years later we continue to strive toward this mission to adopt out all our community’s strays and surrenders.
To highlight a major milestone in our history in 1980, NFAWL was one of the first not-for-profit organizations in the state of New York and the first Humane Organization on Long Island to contract with a town. Now, the League operates animal shelters for two towns in Southold and Riverhead.
Under The League’s direction, Southold’s animal care and control and sheltering program has become one of the top-rated in the country, offering comprehensive services for the animals in the community and their caretakers.
Then in March 2013, The League took over the management and operation of the same program for the town of Riverhead and built a new state-of-the-art location.
So, what types of services do we provide? We have dog control officers on hand 24 hours a day. They are called out at any time to pick up lost or escaped dogs and pick up lost companion animals. We also assist in rescuing wildlife.
It is also important to note that we have an open-door policy for our community’s dogs and cats without homes. We provide immediate veterinary care for the sick, and every dog and cat is vaccinated and receives a complete checkup.
The single most important point to share about our policies and services is that no companion animal is ever killed because it is homeless. Ever.
The North Fork Animal Welfare League’s mission is to inspire compassion for all living things, to provide shelter to animals in need, and to promote adoptions, animal welfare, and responsible pet ownership in our community. That is our goal with everything we do.
Beyond the shelter animal’s care and our focus on adoptions, we have many programs available to the public. These include spay and neuter clinics, microchip clinics, and feral cat spay and neuter programs. We help local families keep their companion animals in their homes when they experience hardships. We also offer our community educational clinics such as humane education, bite prevention, dog training, and dog therapy visits. We even feature a food pantry for dog and cat food, available to those in need.
Our mission encompasses the following guidelines:
• Return lost animals to their homes.
• Find suitable homes for homeless animals throughout Long Island.
• Provide shelter and humane care for animals in need.
• Relieve the suffering among animals.
• Reduce unwanted births of animals.
• Provide humane education to prevent cruelty to animals.
• Advocate for the enforcement of laws pertaining to dog control.
• Rescue animals from euthanasia.
The League can succeed with the support of those who participate in our efforts. If you can donate, every dollar helps to allow us to provide the best care we can to dogs, cats, and other animals that come through our shelters. If you are interested in finding out more about volunteering at our shelters, at an event, or helping in some other way, we encourage your outreach. Please contact us anytime.
Additionally, both locations are open daily from 10 am until 3 pm and no appointments are required to visit our animals and find out more about us.
“The North Fork Animal Welfare League has sheltered, nourished, and saved animals, and rescued them from euthanasia. We strive to save as many animals as possible.”— Gabby Stroup
Join us now in celebrating sixty years of saving lives.