Animal Care Center lobby named after heroic Staten Island boy who died trying to save pets – SILive.com

Animal Care Center dedicates lobby to Tommy Monahan
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Whenever someone adopts a pet from the newly opened Animal Care Center in Charleston, they’ll be honoring the legacy of one of Staten Island’s bravest animal lovers.
On Wednesday, Animal Care Centers of NYC held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new state-of-the-art facility on the South Shore, with the building’s lobby being dedicated to Tommy Monahan, a 9-year-old Staten Islander who lost his life in 2007 while trying to save his pets during a house fire.
The Monahan family was in attendance for Wednesday’s ceremony, with Tommy’s sister, Gabrielle, fighting back tears during a moving a speech to honor her late brother.
“My brother was a bright beam of light, so bright that even in just nine years of living on this Earth he left a legacy so profound that it lives on today,’' she said. “Tommy has shown me that it’s not about the quantity of how long you live that matters, rather it’s about how you decide to live your day-to-day.”
During her speech, Monahan spoke to the importance of the joy pets bring into our lives and how their own animal adoption helped them cope with the grief of losing Tommy.
“Almost 15 years ago, when the unthinkable happened and we lost my brother, our world turned to complete darkness,’' she said. “We knew in order to survive that we needed to bring in some light, even if just a sliver, and it came in the form of a small mixed-breed puppy . . . We named her Molly Hope.
“As we cared for her, she cared for us by nurturing and loving unconditionally. She was there to comfort us through the tears and gave us reason to get up, even when we felt mentally and physically incapable. We were shocked we were ever able to smile again and we credit the love of this girl to our survival,” she continued.
Mayor Eric Adams made an appearance at the event, bestowing the family with a proclamation that declared Oct. 26, 2022, as Tommy Monahan Day in New York City.
“Today, we come together to take up Tommy’s mantle and transform this burial into a planting, one which will provide a bountiful harvest that will sustain the lives of countless animals across Staten Island for years to come,” the mayor said. “The creation of the new Staten Island Animal Care Center, initially inspired by Tommy’s incredible heroism, now has the capacity to house more animals than ever.”
Borough President Vito Fossella spoke about the importance of carrying on Tommy’s legacy and discussed an exciting new program to do just that.
“What this is about is to celebrate not only Tommy’s life, but also to be missionaries for who he was and what he did,” he said. “To carry on that mission, within a few weeks, we will go into PS 36, the school he had attended, and go into the fourth grade and have the Tommy Monahan Pet Talk instructional curriculum.”
While the program will start small within the fourth grade classes of PS 36, the borough president hopes to expand it to all schools throughout Staten Island and the entire city in the coming years.
Former Borough President James Molinaro, who got the ball rolling on the lengthy project with a $3 million funding allocation during his time in office, was gifted a stuffed animal by the Animal Care Center for the role he played in bringing this new facility to Staten Island.
“It’s really great what we’re doing here today and naming this in memory of a great young man that knew the values of pets,” Molinaro said. “It’s people like him that make not just Staten Island, but the country and the world, a better place for all of us.”
Risa Weinstock, the executive director of Animal Care Centers of NYC, said the new facility represents a vast improvement over the previous one, with more than twice as much space to house and care for the animals.
“Animal welfare has evolved in the last 10 years with a lot of emphasis on the quality of care inside the shelters,’' Weinstock said. “We want the best life for the animals before they get a home.”
Staten Islanders looking to adopt a pet can visit https://www.nycacc.org/ to sign up for an appointment to visit the shelter and fill out an application form.
Trick or Treat. Let’s keep these pets safe during this fun time. October 22-23
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