Robert Shapiro, Founder
Robert Shapiro, a modern day renaissance man, is an author, inventor, athlete, artist, naturalist, wildlife rehabilitator, arborist, bicycle fanatic, and member of the Linnaean Society.
Robert has placed thousands of cats and dogs over the years in addition to innumerable reptiles and other exotics. He was featured on National Geographic, Animal Planet, The Discovery Channel, and was a guest on the TV show To Tell the Truth as the Urban Exotics Rescuer in 1999.
He gives nature walks and bike rides where he discusses the myriad birds, mammals, trees, plants, wild flowers, weeds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, fish and crustaceans that thrive mostly unnoticed in and around the metropolitan area. He also gives free tennis, paddleball, pickle ball, cycling, and bicycle maintenance lessons.
His articles have appeared in major outlets including The Huffington Post (“For the Love of Dog, Put Us Out of Business”) and Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine (“Enough is Enough”) and an article in Experience Life Magazine about the joy of living without wasting. Current writing projects include: “Dragons in My Bathtub (and Other Tails)”, a compilation of essays about extraordinary experiences he’s had rescuing wild animals in New York City; “How to Teach Your Parents to Save the Planet”, a book about thriving without creating waste, and a calendar called “365 Things You Don’t Have to do in Order to Save the Earth” After graduating college he taught at the A to Z Nursery School in the West Village. He was a traveling science instructor for the Department of Education, teaching children about the planet, animals, and their proper care.
Some of Shapiro’s early accomplishments include writing a guidebook about the reptile pet trade entitled “Are you Killing Your Reptile?” at the age of 19 (T.F.H. Publications); illustrating a book of the entire collection of Faberge Eggs for Forbes Magazine also at age 19 (Doubleday); was awarded a citation for courage from the NYPD for saving a woman from being assaulted, and is a Player of Distinction in the Handball Hall of Fame.
He has just completed a series of children’s books entitled “Let’s Rename These Animals, Plants, etc, that allow the child to draw what he or she thinks something would look like judging by it’s name and then flip the page to see the actual entity, i.e. a Bald Eagle is not bald. He is also currently making a video about the Top Ten reasons people unintentionally kill their pet reptiles called “A Reptile Dysfunction”.
Robert was the New Yorker of the Week on NY1, which featured his animal rescue operation. He lives in the West Village in New York City.
Dr. Lyle Cleary
Our exotic animals vet, who’s been working with animals since he first started volunteering with Robert as a teenager. His enthusiasm for reptiles and exotic animals took his journey to Tufts University where he interned with their Zoo/Exotics department. He would later be promoted to working as a full-time team member at Tuft University’s Wildlife Hospital, and fulfilled that role from 2014-2016 until graduating with awards in Senior Zoological and Companion exotics. He would move onto a one year internship at Brooklyn’s Emergency and Referral Group. While interning, he became the guy to call for exotic animal emergencies and after nearly 10 years progressed to become a veterinarian at The Center for Avian Exotics, based in Manhattan. He also has experience working for the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby Australia, as well as the Madras Crocodile Bank Center for Herpetology in Tamil Nadu, India.
Elan Ginzberg
Not only a long time volunteer rescuing animals, but also our team lawyer. Elan began his work with animals as a child, volunteering in Robert Shapiros previous rescues. He is well versed on the legal side of the spectrum, but also is full of compassion for both animals and people. We are fortunate to have someone who is on the right side of justice, with a legal background on our team.
Rob Vilches
Our most tenured volunteer for over 20 years. He has hands on experience with a multitude of animals, and is the guy we call on most to assist Robert in rescuing and transporting large and/or dangerous animals. He is also manager of Stray Pride.
Brooke Jaffe
Brooke Jaffe is a longtime animal lover - ducks being her number one. She handles social media management, as well as local publicity for Stray Pride. Fostering turtles is another role she frequently takes on. Outside of Stray Pride, she works in the music industry and is a proud graduate of Florida State University.
Amaru Fenoutt
Amaru is one of our hardworking volunteers, mostly assisting us with turtle fostering and conservation projects. He is passionate about animal and human rights, and is also the lead vocalist of the NYC based metal band Non-Residents.