by Bill Demarest
A Nyack animal rescue group is in need of a rescue themselves after their van was stolen and wrecked early Tuesday morning. Dapper Dog owner Gerry Tartaglione says Hopeful Tails, the non-profit animal rescue program she runs, is severely limited without dedicated transportation to pick the up dogs and cats who need new homes. “The lack of the van makes it difficult to transport the rescue animals and related materials,” said Tartaglione. She is asking her community of supporters to help get the word out that Hopeful Tails needs new wheels donated so they can continue their animal rescue work.
Clarkstown police say they are still looking for the man who is believed to have stolen the van from in front of the Dapper Dog, a pet grooming retail business located in the Nyack Knolls Shopping Center on Route 59 across from the Old World Market. Police say the van was used in a robbery at the Mobil On The Run convenience store/gas station opposite the Palisades Center mall on Route 303.
A man driving the van stole $60 from the convenience store. Police say the store clerk identified the vehicle used in the theft as the stolen van. The incident ocurred about 3 am Tuesday morning.
Clarkstown police said the Dapper Dog van was found abandoned at Nyack High School in Upper Nyack.
“I can’t imagine why anyone would want to take our old van,” said Tartaglione.
She said the old van used for the pet rescue efforts – and to haul away lots of trash created by the program and her pet grooming business – was left unusable by front-end damage. Now, any animals to be transported by the Hopeful Tails program must go into cramped personal vehicles. Tartaglione, who has been involved with local, regional and national pet rescue efforts for many years, says she doesn’t have the money needed to replace the van and is hoping that someone with an old van will donate their vehicle to Hopeful Tails. “We are a non-profit, so they can get a tax deduction for the donation,” Tartaglione said.
Tartaglione and her husband, Nick, are longtime Nyack business owners. Their pet grooming and pet supply business was located at the corner of Route 9W and Route 59 for many years before moving to its current location in the Nyack Knolls shopping center.
Tartaglione’s Dapper Dog doubles as a pet grooming business and a animal rescue facility. There’s a special area in her shop to house the rescue dogs and cats who are up for adoption.
Bill Demarest blogs about news in Nyack and Rockland County at NyackFreePress.blogspot.com.
See also: Dogged Determination For “Early’s Angel,” CBS The Early Show, 5/20/2009
