Glen Cove Girl Scout Gold Award Candidate Raises Awareness About Pet Safety And Animal Cruelty

Jessica Bellomo from the Girl Scouts of Nassau County, Troop 1243, partnered with the Animal Lovers League to shed a light on the on-going problem of animal abuse and neglect that takes place globally every single day. After completing 245 hours towards her project, titled “Operation Pet Safety and Animal Cruelty Awareness” (OPSACA), Jessica will achieve Gold Award status, the highest honor acquired in Girl Scouting. The intent of the Gold Award program is to inspire communities in Nassau County to promote acts of kindness and goodwill.

Throughout her project, Jessica hosted many informative presentations at the Locust Valley Street Fair, at Glen Cove’s National Night Out Against Crime, at the Glen Cove Junior Soccer League Stadium and at the Glen Cove Boys and Girls Club Open House. Jessica distributed various brochures she researched and prepared, including Preparing Your Pets for Emergencies in Braille, wherein she addressed the lack of pet safety, the severity of animal cruelty, who is impacted by it and what can be done to help. She also obtained over 200 signatures for her Pet Safety Pledge against animal cruelty. Additionally, Jessica distributed Emergency Pet Kits to pet owners so they could be better prepared and informed in case of an emergency or natural disaster. She was also able to partner with the ASPCA Animal Assisted Therapy Program wherein a therapy dog and her handler attended her event to talk about welfare advocacy issues and the additional benefit a therapy animal can have on an individual.

Furthermore, Jessica’s project will be sustained in the future with the assistance of Cove Animal Rescue who will continue to distribute Jessica’s informative brochures to new pet owners. Jessica also received recognition from Nassau County Assistant District Attorney Jed Painter, Chief of the Animal Crimes Unit, and Detective Investigator Liz Rye, who were extremely impressed by her meaningful project.

Jessica hopes to make people more aware of how prevalent this issue is in our society. “I plan to impact not only my community but also inspire others worldwide by providing pet owners with a better understanding of how to keep their pets healthy and increase their longevity, make people more aware of what to do in situations where someone is abusing an animal and to reduce animal cruelty,” says Jessica Bellomo. For more information about “Operation Pet Safety and Animal Cruelty Awareness” take a look at Jessica’s web page: https://www.facebook.com/OperationPetSafetyAnimalCrueltyAwareness/

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