Dogs found starving, living in filth
Selden, NY (US)Incident Date: Monday, Jul 20, 2009
County: Suffolk
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Barbara Scharf
» Danny Nelson
Two Selden residents were arrested and charged with felony animal cruelty this weekend after three dogs were found languishing in filth and garbage at an apparently abandoned home on South Evergreen Drive.
Investigators with Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals checked the house last week after receiving a tip that animals were inside.
"There was an odor coming from the house," SPCA Chief Roy Gross said Sunday. "Everything was closed up, there were cobwebs on the doors, and they could hear the faint cries of dogs coming from the home."
After obtaining a search warrant, agents entered the home through a rear door and found three severely malnourished dogs living amid garbage and feces, Gross said. Debris was piled from floor to ceiling; the house contained no food and did not appear to have electricity or running water, he said.
The animals - a male Siberian husky, a male pointer mix, and a female pit bull mix - were taken to Brookhaven Town Animal shelter for treatment. It was not clear if the animals, which had sores and were "in very poor condition," had been kept as pets or guard dogs, Gross said.
Barbara Scharf, 46, and Danny Nelson, 49, both of 49 S. Evergreen Dr., were arrested when they returned to the residence Saturday. Gross said Nelson and Scharf, who owns the property, were being held on $5,000 bail.
"You can't just leave animals in the house to suffer like that," Gross said, calling the dogs' treatment "very, very severe negligence," and "depraved indifference to an animal."
"They're facing two years in prison and hefty fines," he said.
Suffolk County SPCA asks that anyone with additional information call 631-382-7722. References« NY State Animal Cruelty Map
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