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Riverhead Town Board hires new animal control officer

BARBARAELLEN KOCH FILE PHOTO | Riverhead Town's animal control building on Youngs Avenue.

Riverhead has a new animal control officer.

Jessica Eibs-Stankaitis of Wading River was hired on a temporary basis to fill a vacant animal control officer, or ACO, position for up to six months. The position has been vacant since longtime ACO Lou Coronesi resigned last year. Members of the public had been pressuring the town to replace him in light of a decision to euthanize a dog fbased on reports that turned out to be untrue.

Ms. Eibs-Stankaitis, who made a cameo appearance at Tuesday’s meeting to show off Ranger, an American Staffordshire Terrier up for adoption at the town shelter, ranked first in the county on the civil service list for Animal Control Officer I, her official title with the town.

Ironically, while she is working with the town now, she was one of a group of beachfront property owners who sued the town two years ago over the issue of beach access along Long Island Sound in Wading River. That lawsuit was recently settled.

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