Giraffe Remains Behind Bars

A giraffe at the East Hampton Village impound yard? That’s right: A 9-foot-tall plastic giraffe impounded after being found chained to a tree at the Nature Trail in June of 2016.

The Highway Department cut the chain and took the exotic animal to the Department of Public Works yard where it has been impounded ever since. It was never reported stolen, no one ever stepped forward to claim it, and now, more than a year later, the village is trying to figure out what to do with it. 

Rebecca Hansen, the East Hampton Village administrator, explained this week that having been abandoned for a full year, the giraffe is officially village property and state law allows the village to sell it in a property auction.

“It all depends on what it is,” June Lester, the East Hampton Village Board secretary, said. “If it’s worth something we sell it; if it’s not worth anything it goes to scrap.”

The village does not seem to consider the giraffe scrap, however, and its fate remained up in the air even though it has been declared surplus. “We can get rid of it now,” Ms. Lester said. “It will probably be an online auction, but it’s out of my hands.” While an auction seems likely, a date has not been set.  

Ms. Hansen suggested an alternative might be found, but she did not offer ideas about what that might be. “It could be auctioned off, or we may work out another arrangement, which may or may not be happening,” Ms. Hansen said