Sound Shore

Sunday night I spent time with Vincent Guarneri, member of the Rye based animal rights group Animal Nation and Bronxville resident Loraine J. Izzo, a licensed animal rehabilitator with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The two are friends and rescued a Canada goose that they found in the Bronx River over the weekend. Last week there was a pretty hefty oil spill in White Plains that trickled up and down the  river tearing through much of the animal habitats there. As you can tell by the photo, this goose is anything but light-colored because it’s covered in oil. Normally a Canadian goose has bright white feathers around it’s cheek area.

In Izzo’s home Sunday night, the two spent hours trying to clean the oil off the goose by placing it in a bathtub filled with dish washing soap and hot water. Izzo pointed out how tricky it is to clean up the animal because oil isn’t easy to take off. Every few minutes the two had to scrub the animal, lift it up and filter out the oil sediments and then dunk the animal back in and repeat the cycle.

Izzo said she is asking the community to help her out in the efforts. Right now, she’s rescuing animals all this week and cleaning them up in her bathtub. Ideally, she’d like to have a more spacious facility and assitance in rescuing the animal. Those interested in helping can call her at 914-629-8352.