Deer, Eels, Raccoons, And A Pet Shop In Need of A Helping Hand

BROOKLYN – It’s the last day of September! Where has the time gone? A lot has been happening in our borough this week— more proof that NYC is not in fact, a “ghost town” as our president put it last night at the debate.

Lot’s going on, and this week we have some animal news as well.

We already wrote that someone dumped over 100 live eels into the Prospect Park Lake on Sunday. A man reportedly entered the Park carrying two garbage bags, the bags split open and dozens of live eels spilled out. Then, the man continued to “dump hundreds more into the lake.” We were told the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation is investigating the incident. Anyone with any information should call 1-844-DEC-ECOS (1-844-332-3267).

Yesterday, a deer was spotted in Sheepshead:

Neighbors saw it on Avenue S near Ocean Parkway at around 1 p.m. and mistook it for a reindeer. Cops chased it down Ocean Parkway and the ordeal finally ended on Avenue W when the deer went to a woman’s backyard and the cops used a tranquilizer dart. The Daily News reported that the deer was then taken to a forest refuge in Staten Island, where it will be released to the wild.

Racoon vaccination began in Brooklyn yesterday, despite us recording just one rabid raccoon this year. (Or maybe that is exactly why we have so few). So far 30 animals have been found to have rabies across NYC so far this year. Staten Island has the most (12 raccoons, 1 cat, and 1 bat), followed by the Bronx (8 raccoons, 1 skunk, and 1 cat), Queens (2 raccoons, and 1 cat), and Manhattan (2 raccoons). As for Brooklyn – there’s just the one raccoon that was found on July 15th near 15th Avenue and Cropsey Avenue near the Dyker Beach Park. The vaccination effort will last two weeks, the Health Department said.

And if you like animals, you will surely be happy to lend a helping hand:

Park Slope Pet Supplies, a small pet shop located at 697 5th Ave, is struggling to stay open. The owner of the shop Pete Papadatos appealed to neighbors in a GoFundMe post:

“In November 2019 I had a dream to have a successful business. I brought my store and hustled and worked to be successful. As COVID-19 started to shut down [the] business, the dream started to become a nightmare. Business dropped 80%, owing to distributors and landlords.

We couldn’t qualify for EIDL or PPP, as we are a new business… I am asking for your help whatever it can be as I want to keep this small pet supplies store open so we can continue catering to our furry friends as well as our beautiful cat Lucy. I have to wonderful ladies who work with me and have managed to keep them with me. Please if you can anything will help #SmallBusinessRelief. I want to be able to continue to contribute to my employees and my community. I am a big supporter of adopting pets and helping rescues.”

So far they have raised just $1,681 of the $15,000 goal. Brooklyn, we can do better!