Hamden’s ‘Biggest Animal Advocate’ Dies, To Be Honored: Mayor Garrett

HAMDEN, CT — Lenny Young, described by Mayor Lauren Garrett as Hamden’s “biggest animal advocate,” has died.

Family members announced that Young died Tuesday morning after a “courageous battle with cancer.”

Young was a founder and driving force for the animal advocacy group Gimme Shelter, which was established in January 2017 to create awareness and raise funds for the first-ever Hamden Animal Shelter.

“Lenny was a beloved soul, whose warmth, humor, and unshakable love for life touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him,” Young’s family wrote in a post on the Gimme Shelter Facebook page. “Lenny left us peacefully, surrounded by love, leaving behind a legacy of kindness, laughter, and memories that will live on forever. Lenny had a heart as big as the sky and a spirit that danced to the rhythm of his favorite tunes.”

Garrett said she visited Young in hospice last week and “shared a resolution to name the Hamden animal shelter after Dolores Giannini and Lenny Young.”

“He was able to look at the site plan that shows the Giannini Young Animal Shelter at the corner of Putnam Ave. and Gallagher Rd. included in our plans for the new Station 2 Firehouse complex and we read the resolution,” Garrett wrote in a post on Facebook. “Lenny knows our commitment to build an animal shelter and that it will be named in his honor. My sincere condolences to Lenny’s family and the many people and doggies who loved him.”

The resolution, which Garrett shared in the post on Facebook, will go before the Legislative Council at its meeting on Tuesday, April 22 at 7 p.m. (Read the full resolution at the end of this story).

Calling hours for Young will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, April 21 at Beecher & Bennett Funeral Home.

“A celebration of his life will be held in the coming days, where stories, music, and favorite dishes will be shared in his honor-just the way he would have wanted,” the Young family wrote in the Facebook post. “Rest easy, Lenny. May the music play on, the dogs run free, and the tables always be full in your memory.”