Visit Forest Park . . . go home with someone new

Are you looking for someone to love?
Well, if that someone is cute and furry, visit Forest Park on June 14, when The One Stop Richmond Hill Community Center will be hosting its first “Pet Adoption Day.”
The event will take place at the Buddy Monument in Forest Park on June 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“We’re excited to be doing this,” said Paul Bankert, a vice president of the Richmond Hill Block Association (RHBA). “It’s wonderful for pets and the community at large.”
At the event, dogs and cats from the Center for Animal Care and Control (CACC) will be available for adoption.
According to Richard Gentles, the director of Administrative Services for the CACC, it costs $25 to adopt one cat, but it is free to adopt two cats at one time. Gentles said that the CACC encourages people who do not already have a cat to adopt two so that the cats can have a companion.
The cost for adopting a dog starts at $25 for one that is more than five years old, and goes up to $150 for a pure-breed.
“A lot of people can’t get to our shelters,” Gentles said about why the CACC gets involved with events like Pet Adoption Day. “We bring the animals to them.”
Bankert added that he would like “to see some pets that would otherwise meet an unpleasant fate be adopted into happy families.”
The Lefferts Animal Hospital will be at Pet Adoption Day as well, giving out coupons for a free physical examination for the animals that are adopted.
Dr. David Halpern, a veterinarian at the Lefferts Animal Hospital, said that Bankert got in touch with him and asked if the hospital wanted to do anything at the event.
“What he [Bankert] is trying to accomplish is excellent and I am hoping for the best,” Halpern said.
Bankert said that he was “happy to have support” from different organizations in the community.
To learn more, ask for Joan Bachert or Wendy Bowne at the One Stop Richmond Hill Community Center, 718-849 3759, or e-mail rhba@att.net.