Attorneys/Judges
Judge(s): | Paul M. Hensley |
Horse neglect - 5 seized Aquebogue, NY (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Sep 28, 2008 County: Suffolk
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Salvatore Gandolfo
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Five maltreated horses were rescued from a Central Islip property Sunday morning and their owner was arrested, the Suffolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said.
Detectives and humane officers from the agency's Emergency Animal Response Team executed a search warrant about 10 a.m. yesterday at 88 Hawthorne Ave. in Central Islip, said Chief Roy Gross.
It was part of an ongoing investigation into the treatment of the five horses, Gross said.
The owner of the horses, Salvatore Gandolfo, of 41 Maplewood Lane, Aquebogue, was arrested at the scene. Charged with five counts of animal cruelty, he is expected to be arraigned Monday, Gross said.
Gandolfo was housing the horses at stables on the Central Islip property, Gross said.
Gross would not elaborate on the condition of the horses or how they were mistreated, except that they were in danger of dying. "They're going to need medical attention," he said.
Richard Root, who rents a room in a boardinghouse on the Central Islip property, said he didn't see any signs of the horses being mistreated. "They weren't beating them or mistreating them in any way," Root, 62, said. "They weren't malnourished or anything."
A woman who identified herself as Gandolfo's wife declined to comment last Sunday night.
Case UpdatesThe owner of five maltreated horses rescued from a property Sunday in Central Islip pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of animal cruelty in Suffolk District Court, not far from where the horses were seized.
Appearing without a lawyer Salvatore Gandolfo, 55, of Aquebogue, pleaded not guilty before Judge Paul M. Hensley. The judge set bail at $10,000 cash, $20,000 bond, citing Gandolfo's previous failure to appear in court for traffic violations.
Gandolfo, of 41 Maplewood Lane, had been charged with five counts of animal cruelty after detectives and humane officers from the Suffolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' Emergency Animal Response Team executed a search warrant Sunday morning at 88 Hawthorne Ave. in Central Islip.
There, authorities seized the five horses. Suffolk SPCA chief Roy Gross did not say how the horses had been mistreated, but said they were in danger of dying.
Gandolfo told the judge he is employed and had gotten a veterinarian to check the horses.
A lawyer for Suffolk SPCA, Herbert Kellner, applied for a bond hearing in court Monday that would require Gandolfo to pay for the horses' veterinary care, feeding and housing.
"The case is a bad case of animal abuse, of animal cruelty and neglect," Kellner said Monday outside the courtroom. "Obviously, the horses are in bad enough condition that they needed to be seized by our agency."
Gandolfo is due back in court on Oct. 8. | Source: NY Newsday - Sept 29, 2008 Update posted on Sep 29, 2008 - 11:41AM |
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