DA to probe Honey the bear abuse allegations at NY animal refuge

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office is probing allegations of animal neglect at the taxpayer-funded Holtsville Ecology Center in Long Island, following The Post’s reporting on claims its staff mistreated a 27-year-old bear named Honey before she was euthanized last month. 

DA Ray Tierney said his office is investigating allegations brought by former employees and advocates against the state-licensed animal refuge in the Town of Brookhaven, including that several creatures there have died from a lack of proper veterinary care, following a request for an independent probe by Supervisor Dan Panico.

“We were asked to look into it so we will,” Tierney told The Post, declining to discuss details.

The refuge, which is licensed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and curiously run by the town’s Highway Department, will be under “a lot more oversight now” by the town board members and the supervisor’s staff, Panico vowed.

The DEC is conducting its own investigation and previously said it has interviewed some of the eight former workers who shared their concerns over the animals’ treatment with the advocacy group Humane Long Island.

The 3.5-acre refuge, which opened in 1974 on top of a former landfill and is free to the public, has roughly 100 sick or injured animals in its care that cannot survive in the wild. 

The center came under fire in recent weeks after Honey, its star attraction, lost the use of the rear part of her body after she suffered a stroke and was euthanized on Nov. 22.  

The aged bear suffered from broken and rotted teeth and had chronic urinary tract infections, and was allegedly blasted with a hose at times when it was too slow to move to its enclosure.

“The fact that the DA is investigating this, and the town supervisor asked them to look into it shows how serious these allegations are,” said John DiLeonardo, executive director of Humane LI.