My father Richard DeSantis is a 66 year old disabled combat Vietnam Veteran who has lived in Bay Shore NY most of his life. His house is on 3/4 acre with over 2 acres of woods in the back. He and my mother have been in their current home (the home I grew up in) for 32 years. For 25 of those years, my father has been a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the State of NY and Federal Government. His passion is to rescue and rehabilitate sick, injured and orphaned animals and birds on Long Island. He does so, on his own property, with no monetary assistance. All expenses are paid for by him and my mother. Throughout the years, they have been called for help by local and state police, fire departments, town officials, parks, schools and hundreds of private citizens.  And in the 25+ years, they have had no complaints.  The vast majority of the neighbors have been very supportive and people from all over have brought their children to see and learn about Long Island wildlife. My brother and I were very fortunate to grow up learning the beauty and importance of caring for our environment and local animals.

Two and a half years ago my father was called by a local homeowner regarding a peacock and some chickens roaming loose in the neighborhood. The man said he called the Town of Islip and they recommended he call my father for help. (Due to the fact that the town offers no wildlife assistance at all.) My father, along with 2 other rehabilitators he works closely with, Kathy and Bobby Horvath from WINORR (Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation) responded to the call. The Horvath's retrieved the peacock (as seen on Channel 12 news), and my father retrieved the chickens. The peacock was brought to an upstate farm, and a total of 7 chickens (3 roosters and 4 hens) were brought to my parent’s house for rehabilitation. Within a couple months, they found homes for 2 of the roosters.

Islip town law states you are allowed to have chickens and roosters providing you follow the town code and that they are cooped up and noise free from 11pm to 7am. My parents followed the law explicitly.  And once the rooster was put in his coop - he did not crow.

In August of 2014, a Town of Islip employee delivered four noise violation summonses; one each for a specific time on four different days for a week in June. Each violation carried a fine of $500 - totaling $2000.00. My parents never got a warning or complaint - from the town, the police, or a neighbor. The town says that they can issue a summons as long as 2 neighbors put in a complaint for ANY KIND OF NOISE that occurs for the duration of 30 minutes minimum.  No investigator nor verification of any kind was ordered - just the word of 2 neighbors

We are not disputing that the rooster crowed. It did so during the day.  The arguments are: Why didn't the 2 neighbors in question speak to them about it? Why did it take the town 2 months to deliver the summonses after the complaint? Why were 4 violations in the total amount of $2000 given all at once? And why would the Town believe 2 of the neighbors without speaking to any of the others to see if the claims are true?

So in order to fight these ridiculous fines, my parents hired a lawyer to file motions to dismiss the claims. As a result, the Town is offering them a plea of $500 for one summons or they can go to trial to fight it. A trial would cost them more money and of course it will cost taxpayers as well. But by taking a guilty plea, my father essentially will not be able to continue his animal rehabilitation because any new noise the 2 neighbors complain about will lead to additional and steeper fines in the future.

In the end, the animals are the ones who suffer, as there is only a handful of wildlife rehabilitators on Long Island left.  And we NEED these volunteers. 

The Town of Islip needs to review its process of issuing noise ordinance violations. Had my father gotten a complaint or a warning, the rooster would have been relocated right away. This is unfair and unjust. Please sign if you feel these charges should be dropped and the laws should be adjusted accordingly.