The Animal Shelter’s Ship Has Come In

Robert Giunta was tired of his less than one-year-old 16-foot Seaway fishing boat. In a rush as he usually is, said wife Lou Ann Giunta, Robert asked Skip Birbarie of Birbarie Marina to help him sell the boat, fast.

“Bob doesn’t let anything age,” said Birbarie of the like-new boat. He agreed, he said, to help them sell the boat.

Bob and Lou Ann explained they had bought another boat and were ready to part with the Seaway. Worried that the sale would take too long, the couple gave Birbarie the blessing to sell it for $9,500 with one caviat; all the proceeds would go to a charity.

A Branford resident, Birbarie suggested the Giuntas give the money to the . What made him think of the shelter? Birbarie said his dog Molly is a “frequent flyer” and often ends up at the shelter. It was a way to give back, he explained.

Former Branford residents who used Birbarie Marina to keep their boats when they lived here and continue to use it now for service, agreed that the charity was a good fit for them.

In addition to being boaters, the Giuntas are involved in philanthropic work and Lou Ann is the Vice Chairman on the board for the Connecticut Humane Society. The couple also confessed to owning five rescued dogs (none of which are from the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter).

After hanging a “For Sale” sign on the Seaway, which was dry docked at the Marina, explaining the intent of the sellers, a family from Weathersfield purchased the boat for asking price of $9,500.

The money from the donation was used at the shelter during the 2010-11 fiscal year, said Shelter Director Laura Selvaggio Burban. The funds went towards helping the most venerable animals in need of serious care.

Selvaggio Burban noted one dog, Anthony, who came to the shelter with a severe eye condition. The money from the couple went to repair Anthony who was later adopted by an area eye doctor – a perfect match.

All told, Selvaggio Burban said the shelter uses about $35,000 worth of donations to pay for animal costs, including unforeseen emergency surgeries like the one Anthony had. The shelter, she added, received about $20,000 in regular funding as well.

Selvaggio Burban made a book for the Giuntas and Birbarie, detailing every animal they helped save. Sitting together and flipping through the book, Selvaggio Burban said she was touched by the donation. “There would have been animals that wouldn’t have been saved.”

Generous to charities for animals as well as other organizations, Lou Ann said she and her husband donate about 25 percent of their annual income. “Once you figure out what you need,” she said, “what’s the point of buying anything further?”

Though it’s common practice for this generous couple to give, the act was still huge for the shelter and the town as well. When asked if she thought it was a big deal, Lou Ann said, “I hope there’s a lot of people who do that. Isn’t that what we’re here for?”