Disclosure Information
Board of Directors
Maryann Chernovsky, President CEO (1990)
David Ceely, Vice President (2022)
Filiberto Colon, Secretary Treasurer (2022)
Key Staff
Executive Director:
David Ceely
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Volunteer Coordinator:
Anna Maass
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Dog Program Manager:
Dominick Dolce
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Cat Program Manager:
Dianna Cutolo
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TOH Cat Shelter Manager:
Christina Chiarello
Medical Staff
Christine Handlin, DVM
Mary Ann Swensen, LVT
Angela Howe, LVT
Sue Kotler, VA
Sarah Grasso, VA
Privacy Policy
Little Shelter Animal Rescue and Adoption Center (AKA Little Shelter) is committed to your right to privacy and to keeping your personal information private. You can visit Little Shelter's web site without telling us who you are or revealing any identifying information about yourself.
This Privacy Policy governs the URL www.littleshelter.com and www.littleshelter.org. This website is owned and operated by Little Shelter Animal Rescue and Adoption Center located at 33 Warner Road, Huntington, NY 11743, for the benefit of the general public, the animals we seek to rescue and other visitors interested in Little Shelter's mission and operations.
Little Shelter reserves the right to modify or amend this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason.
Information You Voluntarily Provide: Little Shelter collects and maintains certain personal information about you when you send us correspondence, utilize our services or complete any of our online forms, such as when you submit an adoption application, make a donation, attend an event, subscribe to an electronic newsletter, etc. Such information may include your name, mailing address, telephone numbers and e-mail address and other personal information.
Sharing of Information: We never make any personal information available to other organizations or sell our information to any source without your permission or unless ordered by a court of law.
Other Web Sites/Links: This Privacy Policy only applies to www.littleshelter.org and www.littleshelter.com. This site contains links to other Web sites that are not under Little Shelter's control. Little Shelter is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites. Please check with these third-party organizations or companies for their specific privacy policies. If you find inoperable links or are concerned about any of the sites that Little Shelter currently links to, please inform us by contacting us at info@littleshelter.com
If you would like to contact Little Shelter about any questions regarding this privacy policy, please e-mail us at info@littleshelter.com or write to us at:
Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center
33 Warner Road Huntington, NY 11743
Other Information: Little Shelter also collects certain other information that cannot identify you personally when you visit our web site. Little Shelter uses general visitor information for system administration and to monitor the use of our site.
Ways Information About You Is Used: We may use the information you voluntarily provided to contact you regarding animal-related issues we feel you may be interested in, to keep you updated regarding Little Shelter's programs, and to extend an invitation to you to support our programs or events. When we do so, our sole intent is to enlarge our family of informed animal advocates and organizational supporters and in doing so, help more animals find a home. Recipients of our electronic or other communications can "opt out" of future such communications by notifying us and we will remove them from future correspondence we send.
Conflict of Interest Policy
It is the policy of Little Shelter Animal Rescue and Adoption Center and its affiliates to prohibit managers and staff from engaging in any activity, practice, or conduct which conflicts with or appears to conflict with, the interests of Little Shelter, its clients, donors, adopters or its suppliers. Since it is impossible to describe all of the situations which may cause or give the appearance of a conflict of interest, the prohibitions included in this policy are not intended to be all inclusive. When conflicts of interest do arise, they must be recognized, disclosed and either eliminated or properly managed and addressed.
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Managers and staff are expected to represent Little Shelter in a positive and ethical manner and have an obligation both to avoid conflicts of interest and to refer questions or concerns about potential conflicts immediately to the Shelter Director or Board President.
Managers and staff are not to engage in, directly or indirectly, either on or off the job, any conduct which is disloyal, disruptive, competitive or damaging to Little Shelter. In evaluating a potential Conflict of Interest, one should consider how it might be perceived by others. In some cases, the appearance of a conflict of interest can do as much damage as an actual one, by undermining credibility or questioning the integrity of a colleague, Little Shelter or both.
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To avoid a potential conflict of interest, other employment or volunteer service must be brought to the attention of the Shelter Director or Board President. Outside employment or volunteer service that reduces efficiency in working for Little Shelter, involves working for or volunteering at an organization that is either a competitor of Little Shelter or one that does a significant amount of business with the shelter and/or, that adversely affects the shelter’s image, is prohibited. Outside employment or volunteer service should not compete or conflict with or compromise Little Shelter’s interest.
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Managers and staff may not disclose any proprietary information about Little Shelter, its policies, procedures, its physical layout or security systems or any other information not normally known by others, including but not limited to any donor information, to anyone inside or outside the organization. Any and all programs and data installed on Little Shelter computers remains the property of Little Shelter. Failure to disclose conflicting affiliations or the violation of any provision of this agreement may result in dismissal. This policy shall remain in effect for a period of two years after separation of employment for any reason.
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Record Retention and Destruction Policy
This policy covers all records and documents, regardless of physical form, contains guidelines for how long certain documents should be kept and how records should be destroyed. The policy is designed to ensure compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, to eliminate accidental or innocent destruction of records and to facilitate the operation of Little Shelter.
Retention Schedule and Administration
Record Retention Schedule is set forth in Appendix A. The Director of Finance & Operations (“Administrator”) shall administer this Policy. The Administrator is also authorized to: make modifications to the Record Retention Schedule from time to time to ensure that it is in compliance with local, state and federal laws and includes the appropriate document and record categories for the Association; monitor local, state and federal laws affecting record retention; annually review the record retention and disposal program; and monitor compliance with this policy.
Electronic Documents and Records
Electronic documents will be retained as if they were paper documents. Therefore, any electronic files that fall into one of the document types in Appendix A will be maintained for the appropriate amount of time. If an employee has sufficient reason to keep an email message, the message should be printed in hard copy and kept in the appropriate file or moved to an “archive” computer file folder.
Suspension of Record Disposal in the Event of Litigation
No director, officer, employee, volunteer or agent of Little Shelter shall destroy, dispose of, conceal, or alter any record or document while knowing that it is or may be relevant to an anticipated or ongoing investigation or legal proceeding conducted by or before a federal, state or local government agency, including tax and regulatory agencies, law enforcement agencies, and civil and criminal courts, or an anticipated or ongoing internal investigation, audit or review conducted by Little Shelter.During the occurrence of an anticipated or ongoing investigation or legal proceeding as set forth above, the Administrator shall suspend any further disposal of documents until such time as the Administrator, with the advice of counsel, determines otherwise. The Administrator shall take such steps as necessary to promptly inform all staff of any suspension in the further disposal of documents. This Policy was approved by the Executive Committee Little Shelter on September 1, 2012
Whistleblower Policy
It is the intent of Little Shelter to adhere to all laws and regulations that apply to the organization, and the underlying purpose of this Policy is to support the organization's goal of legal compliance. The support of all employees is necessary to achieving compliance with various laws and regulations. An employee is protected from retaliation only if the employee brings the alleged unlawful activity, policy, or practice to the attention of his/her immediate supervisor and provides his/her immediate supervisor with a reasonable opportunity to investigate and correct the alleged unlawful activity. The protection described below is only available to employees that comply with this requirement.
Little Shelter will not retaliate against an employee who, in good faith, has made a protest or raised a complaint against some practice of Little Shelter, or of another individual or entity with whom Little Shelter had a business relationship, on the basis of a reasonable belief that the practice is in violation of law or a clear mandate of public policy.
Little Shelter will not retaliate against an employee who discloses or threatens to disclose to a supervisor or a public body any activity, policy, or practice of Little Shelter that the employee reasonably believes is in violation of a law, or a rule, or regulation mandated pursuant to law or is in violation of a clear mandate or public policy concerning health, safety, welfare, or protection of the environment.
As Approved on 1 September 2012
The Policy on the Process for Determining Compensation for executive employees of Little Shelter is as follows:
1. The Board of Directors shall be responsible for evaluating and establishing the compensation levels for the CEO position. The Board of Directors shall also be responsible for evaluating and establishing compensation levels for employees other than the CEO with compensation levels of $ 30K or more. The CEO shall be responsible for evaluating and establishing the compensation levels for all positions with annual compensation levels below $ 30K.
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2. On an annual basis, the CEO shall propose to the Board of Directors, compensation plans for employees in executive roles that the CEO determines would benefit from a variable compensation approach for any employee making in excess of $40,000.00 USD. These proposals are subject to the Board of Director’s review and approval.
The process followed in setting compensation shall include all of these elements: (1) review and approval by the Board of Directors as provided for in the Bylaws; (2) use of data as to comparable compensation; and (3) contemporaneous documentation and recordkeeping.
1. Review and approval.
The compensation of the person is reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors, provided that persons with conflicts of interest with respect to the compensation arrangement at issue are not involved in this review and approval.
2. Use of data as to comparable compensation.
The compensation of the person is reviewed and approved using data as to comparable compensation for similarly qualified persons in functionally comparable positions at similarly situated organizations.
3. Contemporaneous documentation and recordkeeping.
There is contemporaneous documentation and recordkeeping with respect to the deliberations and decisions regarding the compensation arrangement.