Cablevision Editorials
Long Island, New York

Whose Best Friend
March 19, 2004

In Southampton, when man's best friend needed a friend, Pat Lynch was always there.

Or at least she was until the intrepid animal shelter volunteer was fired. How can you fire a volunteer?

Well, somehow the Southampton Animal Shelter did that through a letter that outraged her admirers, including some who had adopted pets from the shelter because of Pat Lynch's radio show, and newspaper column.

Now her radio spots and newspaper column about adoptable pets have been canceled. As Lynch says, she was barred from the shelter after complaining about plans to euthanize some hard-to-adopt animals. At the time, she had joined in a lawsuit against the policy, winning the first round last week when a state Supreme Court justice agreed to put a temporary halt to the process.

An experienced journalist and network television producer, Lynch also complains that the shelter violated her first amendment rights, since she is being prevented from gathering news about adoptable pets.

Lynch, it seems, is making a name for herself as the John Peter Zenger of animal journalism. What's more, if she prevails in court, Lynch will certainly make the case that Southampton sent the wrong woman to the doghouse.