South Shore animal lovers on a mission

What’s in a name? Shakespeare once wrote in “Romeo and Juliet.” If you’re the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a name can mean the loss of precious contributions, says Bob Sowers of Bellmore, president of the nonprofit animal-rescue group.

Sowers, a retired postal worker who is president of the Valley Stream branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said in a recent interview that often the Nassau County SPCA gets confused with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is a New York City-based animal-rescue organization founded in 1866, with chapters spread across the country.

When a Nassau resident sends a donation to the ASPCA, the money is not given to the SPCA here, but rather may go to fund animal-rescue efforts in the city or at an affiliate.

Mark Fischler, the Nassau SPCA’s commissioner and a real-estate developer from Hewlett Neck, said for a number of years the organization has relied on donations from its own volunteers to keep the group afloat, in part because many contributors believe they are sending donations to the Nassau SPCA when, in fact, they’re going to the ASPCA. Fischler said that donating to the ASPCA is good, but he is hoping that animal lovers don’t forget the Nassau SPCA when giving.

So, the Nassau SPCA is engaging in a campaign to get the word out that it exists, and needs the support of residents.

David Lerner of Bellmore, son of Saul Lerner, the Bellmore-Merrick Central School District’s athletic director, began volunteering for the Nassau SPCA two years ago, developing content for the group’s website. In recent months, Saul Lerner came on board as the organization’s publicity director.

“We’re limited because people don’t know who we are,” Saul Lerner said. “We really need help.”