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Case #13579 Rating: 2.3 out of 5
Fourteen dogs severely matted, neglected
Vineland, NJ (US)Incident Date: Monday, Apr 7, 2008
County: Cumberland
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 17 files available
Defendants/Suspects:
» Louis Landicini
» Cynthia Landicini
Case Updates: 6 update(s) available
The Cumberland County SPCA is asking for public assistance tracking down the owner of four matted poodles brought into the Delsea Drive animal shelter Monday afternoon.
All four dogs were picked up individually by people who saw them running loose in the area near Delsea Drive, between Oak Lane and West Avenue, said Bev Greco, the SPCA executive director.
The poodles were in deplorable condition with their fur matted with fecal matter, Greco said. They were also suffering from urine burns and other wounds.
Greco said she believes the dogs escaped from an enclosure and fears others may still be held in the inhumane conditions.
Case UpdatesA father and daughter pleaded guilty Thursday to keeping dogs and other pets in a house covered with feces. Luigi Landicini, 81, and his daughter, Cynthia, 57, were charged in April, following the discovery of several poodles running loose near their Oak Lane property.
The dogs' fur was matted with filth, according to animal control officers who found the dogs.
Bev Greco, head of Cumberland County's chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said that the 18 counts of animal cruelty against the pair were combined in court into one criminal charge of keeping animals in unsanitary conditions.
Following their plea in Vineland Municipal Court, the two agreed to pay fines and restitution of $6,300, Greco said.
Apart from the 12 dogs found and immediately seized, the couple owned and contested keeping seven more animals. They include two dogs - a three-year-old Lhasa apso, and an elderly Pomeranian - three Persian cats, a rabbit and a parrot. All of these were relinquished by the pair as part of the court settlement and are currently ready to be rehoused by SPCA. Greco said the 12 poodles, meanwhile, are all headed for new homes.
While Greco said that the plea settled the matter as far as her agency was concerned, she said there was still uncertainty as to whether the elderly Mr. Landicini had been living in the house. Investigators had discovered the floors and furniture coated with layers of animal filth, but had also found freshly bought groceries in the kitchen area during the initial search.
The Landicinis told officers that Luigi Landicini was currently living with his daughter in a condominium in Clementon.
City inspectors earlier this week again declared the Oak Lane home to be unfit for habitation. | Source: Press of Atlantic City - May 9, 2008
Update posted on May 9, 2008 - 12:57PM |
Eleven allegedly mistreated dogs will be getting new homes --possibly as soon as this week. The poodle-mix dogs are believed to have escaped from a filthy Oak Lane home earlier this month.
Luighi Landicini, 81, signed a surrender form Monday morning during a brief hearing in Vineland Municipal Court. But Landicini will fight to retain custody of two other dogs, three cats, a rabbit and an exotic bird also seized from the home by the SPCA on April 10.
Landicini and his daughter, Cynthia Landicini of Lindenwold, who are both facing 18 animal cruelty charges, were in court Monday represented by Michael Testa Jr.
A hearing was set for May 8 on the 18 animal-cruelty charges dealing with unsanitary living conditions, failure to provide food and water, and failure to provide vet care.
Bev Greco, executive director of the Cumberland County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the shelter has received hundreds of applications to adopt the poodle-mix dogs, which were found roaming the neighborhood. Authorities believe the animals escaped through a broken basement window. The dogs' fur was reportedly matted with fecal matter.
Homes have been found for all the dogs.
"Now we can begin the process of spaying and neutering in order to adopt out the first 11 dogs," Greco said. "But we still have a kennel space problem with the rest of the animals. We may have to euthanize other animals in order to keep them until the hearing."
Greco said the delay might also affect the health of the seized animals.
"The sooner they get into an adopted home the better," she said. "It is not good for them to be in a shelter for an extended period of time. This is still an extremely difficult situation. "
The first group of dogs may be leaving the shelter by the end of the week, destined for new homes. Approved adopters have been calling the shelter for updates on when they can take their new pets home, Greco said.
The city Department of Licenses and Inspections declared the house unfit for human habitation, and during Monday's hearing, the department ordered the house be treated for pests and cleaned before it can be reoccupied.
The Landicinis now have 45 days to have the entire house -- and four cars on the property -- treated by an exterminator, said Robert Adams, assistant chief housing inspector.
The condition of the house continues to remain officially "unfit," Adams said.
Testa said Monday his client signed the release forms because he denied ownership of the dogs that were on or near the property.
"We're only disputing the ones that were found in the house," Testa said. "We're moving forward to resolve this in an amicable fashion."
Testa said he met with a city attorney and housing inspector Monday afternoon, and that the house has been serviced by an exterminator.
"I want to commend the city's License and Inspection Department that is moving forward so that any and all problems can be resolved," he said. | Source: The Daily Journal - April 28, 2008
Update posted on Apr 29, 2008 - 8:57AM |
The Cumberland County SPCA is filing 18 animal cruelty charges against 81-year-old Luigi Landicini, believed to be the animal hoarder responsible for 14 feces-coated poodle-mix dogs now in shelter custody.
Because Cynthia Landicini, 57, of Lindenwold, is her father's caretaker, SPCA Executive Director Bev Greco said she must have been aware of the putrid conditions within his Oak Lane house. Her charges will mirror those of her father.
SPCA investigators were processing the paperwork for the following offenses:
� Fourteen counts consisting of unsanitary living conditions, failure to provide food and water, and failure to provide vet care for the 14 dogs.
� Four charges covering the offenses for the three Himalayan cats, a rosy cockatiel and a rabbit removed Thursday from the Landicini house.
Each charge carries a fine ranging from $250 to $1,000, six months in jail and 30 days of community service.
Summonses will be forwarded to both Landicinis by mail, Greco said.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals did not interview Luigi Landicini or his daughter. The charges are based on the agents' investigation and first-hand observations.
Greco said there is some concern about the mental state of the elder Landicini. However, agents opted to file the charges against him and allow Vineland Municipal Court officials to determine if he is competent for the hearing.
"I don't know what his situation is," Greco said. "But this did not happen overnight."
Local SPCA officials brought the case to the attention of state SPCA officials so investigators can check Cynthia Landicini's Lindenwold residence to ensure the abuse is not widespread.
Before any of the dogs can be adopted they will be tested for a bacterial disease that affects kidney, liver and respiratory functions. The disease, leptospirosis, is transmitted to animals and humans through the feces and urine of rats.
Each day, the dogs' condition improves, Greco said.
"They are warming up," Greco said. "Every day, they get more friendly, they're coming out of their shell."
It is believed that Animal Control Officer Diane Starn picked up the last errant pup Thursday evening, but the SPCA is not ruling out the possibility that there might be a few more dogs on the run.
The SPCA has a list of several hundred people willing to adopt the dogs. They are not taking any more applications for the poodle-mixes.
However, Greco noted, the shelter currently has 63 other dogs also in need of loving homes. For more information, sign onto www.cumberlandcounty spca.org. | Source: Delware Online - April 13, 2008
Update posted on Apr 14, 2008 - 3:45PM |
What started as a search for the owners of several maltreated dogs turned into something more Thursday, as animal-welfare officers at a home on Oak Lane found its interior coated thick with animal feces and signs that a person had been living there.
Ten dogs - all small, blond poodle mixes, and showing signs of neglect according to officials - had been found in the last three days around the neighborhood, leading animal-cruelty investigators to stake out a few properties as the source.
Thursday was trash-day and a good time to take a look, said Bev Greco, who heads the local chapter of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and who previously said the dogs had feces clumped in their wavy fur, a sign they were kept in filthy conditions. "We assumed that wherever these animals had been, it would need a clean-up."
When animal-control officers and SPCA staff reached the house in question, where a large pile of trash sat outside, releasing the distinctive smell of animal waste, there was a further clue. "A rat actually looked out of one of the windows at us," Greco said.
A woman who was present at the house, Cynthia Landiccini, 51, told officers that her father, Luigi, the 81-year-old owner, had been staying at her home in Lindenwold.
But, Greco said, the interior told a different story.
Amid surroundings so squalid with animal filth that officers had to wear gas masks, Greco said, fresh fruit and cookies were sitting out on counters.
"All the signs were that someone was living there," Greco said.
The city health department responded, along with fire and police services, as Cynthia Landiccini first allowed officers to inspect the property for 10 minutes, then changed her mind, Greco said. With a search warrant, animal-control officers recovered three dogs, three cats, an exotic cockatoo and a rabbit.
She said she understood Luigi Landiccini was being referred by the Health Department to senior services. The house was cited as unfit for habitation.
"A laundry list of charges" likely would be served today against Cynthia Landiccini, although maybe not against her father, Greco said.
Meanwhile, the final group of the family's animals were taken to the shelter, where they joined the 10 rescued dogs in a regimen of baths and treatment for their sores. Officers said the scene suggested a case of animal hoarding.
"This had obviously been going on for a long, long time," Greco said, "because the animal crates, sitting covered with dirt, had obviously corroded, and the metal had rusted together."
The animals had not been kept only in cages, but had roamed and dirtied the entire one-story property and its basement.
"There was no dirt outside," she said. "These animals had never been let outside."
Of the Landiccinis, she said, "Their neighbors told us they didn't even realize they had dogs." | Source: Press of Atlantic City - April 10, 2008
Update posted on Apr 10, 2008 - 11:27PM |
According to an April 10 report by NBC 10 News, "The 81-year-old homeowner, Louis Landicini, and his daughter, Cynthia, showed up at the house soon after cruelty agents arrived this morning."
Bev Greco, of the Cumberland County SPCA, was quoted as saying "The owner's daughter stated he was not living in there, that he was staying with her. However, there was fresh fruit, cookies on the kitchen table. The daughter knew of the circumstances, so definitely charges will be filed against her."
The animals are being held at the Cumberland County SPCA, where they will be cared for until they are healthy enough to be adopted. The Cumberland County SPCA shelter is about a block and a half from the Oak Lane home where the animals were seized. | | Update posted on Apr 10, 2008 - 10:23PM |
Animal cruelty investigators clad in protective gear and wearing respirators are raiding a home in the 1100 block of Oak Lane at this hour.
The house is believed to be the source of 10 neglected poodle mixes turned over to the Cumberland County SPCA in recent days.
Another poodle was found today, and SPCA and Animal Control investigators also removed two other dogs, a parrot, several cats and a rabbit from the house.
Local SPCA director Bev Greco said the stench of urine and other animal waste was overwhelming, and conditions were deplorable enough to merit the protective clothing.
The name of the homeowner was not immediately available, but the house's mailbox bears the name of Landicina. | Source: Daily Journal - April 10, 2008
Update posted on Apr 10, 2008 - 2:17PM |
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