At around 11:00 A.M. that morning the American Foundation for Animal Rescue, Inc. (AFAR) who operates a small shelter and adoption service for pets in Rego Park, received a call from a woman who identified herself as an employee of the Asia Bank in Elmhurst. "Come quickly," the voice on the phone said. "A little dog has been hit by a car in front of our bank. He is on the sidewalk and needs help".

The AFAR volunteer began to explain that they were a private animal rescue organization staffed with part-time volunteers who do not have emergency trucks and rescue workers to handle this sort of thing. However, knowing full well that The Center for Animal Control and Care, the organization set up by the City of New York to handle the six million dollar plus animal control contract for the city, has less that a perfect record in handling these matters quickly. "O.K. We'll send someone over right away." So, yes folks, I dropped what I was doing. put on my rescue hat (I really do not have a "rescue hat"), grabbed a blanket and a first aide kit, jumped into my Jeep and headed for The Asia Bank.

When I arrived, a small crowd of people were encircling a little dog who was shivering and obvious in a great deal of pain. "Animal Rescue" I announced as I parted the crowd (what a feeling of power that was!) As I went through, I heard someone exclaim in Spanish, "Grasias, Dios!" I began to speak softly to the injured animal in attempt to calm him and let him know I was a good guy. An scared and injured animal will often bite and this was not on my list of things to do that morning. I immediately noticed that he had no collar on so there was no dog license, rabies tag or anything else to help identify his owner. "Anyone know who his owner is?, I asked. No answer came from anyone. With the help of a few local citizens, we managed to place the dog onto a blanket and get him into my Jeep. I then went inside The Asia Bank.

It was a busy place. There were many employees servicing many customers around me. "Is the manager here?" I inquired. I was immediately greeted by a smiling lady named Ms. Lin who identified herself as the manager. "How may I help you", she asked. "I'm from Animal Rescue," I explained, "and I have the dog in my Jeep who was just hit bay a car in front of your bank." The smile was beginning to leave Ms. Lin's face. "What dog?", she asked. "The one you called us about", I replied." "We didn't call anyone," she said. "Oh., well, we are a private, not-for-profit animal rescue organization and we have very little funding gotten mostly from our volunteers. This dog needs medical attention, I'll do the leg work but the bill may be around $100 dollars. Can The Asia Bank help us with this bill?" Ms. Lin was no longer smiling and did not hesitate to reply "No!" Not being one to take no for an answer, I suggested that maybe she could take up a little collection among the employees, there were at least a dozen and maybe more that I could see, and assist us with this medical bill for the little dog. "This is not our problem!", she snapped. Ms. Lin was obviously not a dog person. I was getting angry. "You are obviously in charge of a major bank in this community, one that would seem to be doing quite well I might add. I just left my job to rush over here when your bank called to help a dog who was hit and was lying on the sidewalk in front of your building. As a business member of the community..." Well, Ms. Lin was not about to let me continue. "We do not care about this thing. This is your problem." She turned and walked away.

A family that had seen the dog hit by the car offered to adopt the dog. They followed me to the Ozone Park Animal Clinic where Dr. Buchalter took the case immediately. "He does not seem to have anything broken" said the veterinarian. I'll give him a pain killer and an antibiotic. You should observe him for 24 hours and if the swelling does not go down, he may need an X-Ray." As he was examining the dog, I told him the story about the less than compassionate bank manager and found that, upon leaving, the receptionist Maria said there was no charge.

Lucky is doing fine and is happy in his new home. It just strikes me as sad that a business which is obviously flourishing in the community does not find it in its heart (do corporations have "hearts"?) to put a little back into the community when the need arises. A call to the Asia Bank president, Wu-Hsing Liao, from Garo Alexanian, a producer of Companion Animal Network's Pet News seen on Queens Public Television on channel 35 Monday nights at 10:00 P.M. (in August it will air live on Wednesday at 7:30 P.M. on channel 34 and carry this story), was greeted with typical Asia Bank empathy. "I identified myself as a reporter from Pet News and he hung up the phone in my face!" Thank goodness that when The Asia Bank says "No", the rest of the Queens community says "Yes!"

If you have any other questions, please feel free to drop Bob a note or call him at: +1.718.651.3840