MENANDS - On Monday, April 30, a special showing of the documentary film "Madonna of the Mills" will be held in the Legislative Office Building.

The film follows a woman named Laura as she save thousands of dogs from puppy mills in Pennsylvania where the dogs spend their entire lives in tiny cages without any human contact.

The film screening is free and open to the public. After the screening, attendees will have an opportunity to learn about pending legislation in New York.

The screening is at 11:30a in room 711-A.

For More information, Please Call, 518-434-8128 ext. 203.

The Mohawk Hudson Humane Society received two grants for the purpose of spaying and neutering animals in the Capital Region. Together, the grant money totals $30,000.

The money comes from the state’s Animal Population Control Fund, which is administered by the ASPCA. The funds are the result of surcharges on every dog license in the state (outside of New York City) as well as the state’s spay/neuter license plate.

Half the money will go to the society’s Feline Fix program which spays and neuters cats and the other half will go to the Buck-A-Bull program which is dedicated to sterilizing pit bull type dogs.

“We are very excited about this new funding,” said Brad Shear, MHHS executive director in a statement.  “This grant money means we will be able to do even more to prevent the growing population of animals in the Capital Region and ultimately save more animals’ lives.”

SELKIRK - A local family is calling for the immediate firing of an animal control officer after their dog was shot to death but the Bethlehem Police Department says the shooting was justified. A family that owns a Selkirk farm feels the officer acted appropriately and actually saved several other animals.

The story unfolded on Saturday morning in Selkirk -- a hamlet in South Bethlehem, Albany County. It began when a usually playful Siberian husky slipped out of her collar, escaped from her backyard and wound up on a neighbor's farm just up the road.

For Karen Bruno, the frantic moments spent running around her pastures and barn trying to protect her pets were terrifying.

"If I had left five minutes earlier (for work) one of the goats would have been dead," Bruno said. "The dog was biting my horse's legs. If a tooth goes in wrong that horse could be down and done."