Dogs seized from neglect, one found with severed leg - Ellenville, NY

Friday, May 28, 2010

County: Ulster

Disposition: Dismissed (Conditional)
Case Images: 1 files available

Persons of Interest:
» James Anthony
» Suber Jones - Dismissed

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Ulster County SPCA investigators have charged an Ellenville man with animal cruelty under state law after they found several dogs under James Anthony's care in varying stages of poor health.

Anthony, 68, of 73 Bridge Highway in Ellenville was arrested on Friday, after the dogs were found at 6 Broadhead Street.

One dog suffered from a severed leg with bone protruding and a serious infection. Another dog was found emaciated and the remains of a decomposed puppy were discovered in the yard. A total of four dogs and six surviving puppies were removed by the SPCA with assistance from Ellenville Village Police.

The dogs were transported to the Ulster SPCA shelter in Kingston where they are recovering and receiving medical care under veterinary supervision.

An investigation is continuing and additional charges may be filed, investigators said.

Case Updates

The Ulster County SPCA on Wednesday criticized the Ellenville village justice for dismissing one case and setting the stage for dismissing another in which the owner and caretaker of a dog were charged with failure to provide veterinary care after the animal suffered a severed leg. According to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, shelter investigators responded to a call for assistance from Ellenville village police at 6 Broadhead St. in May 2010 to find a 1-year-old Chow mix that was "bleeding profusely from one leg, which appeared to have been sawed off." Also found at the scene were four adult dogs, six living puppies and one dead puppy, the SPCA said, and the injured Chow, named Monteray, was taken to the SPCA's shelter in the town of Ulster for emergency surgery and care. SPCA Executive Director Brian Shapiro said the dog's owner, Suber Jones, and a man named James Anthony, who had been left to take care of the dog at Jones' house while Jones was out of town, each were charged with the misdemeanor of failure to provide veterinary care to an animal. Shapiro said Jones and Anthony, both of Ellenville, each admitted to being aware of the injury but would not provide information about how it happened. Shapiro said that in Village Court, the case against Jones was dismissed last week and the case against Anthony on March 11 resulted in an "adjournment in contemplation of dismissal," which Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said typically means that if the defendant follows the court's conditions, the charges will be dismissed in six months. According to the SPCA, Village Justice Matthew Parker said police could have obtained a search warrant in as little as half an hour and the assistant district attorney working on the case, who is no longer with the county District Attorney's Office, had not provided evidentiary statements to the defense in a timely manner. Shapiro said the case should have qualified as an "exigent circumstance" that required faster action than getting a warrant once police saw the dog bleeding from its severed leg. Reached by phone on Wednesday, Parker said he is not legally allowed to comment the cases. "It takes far more than half an hour to type the warrant, the application and depositions, all of which are necessary for judicial approval" Dave Fix, the SPCA's lead investigator, said in a prepared statement. "Many times, a local judge cannot be found, so one has to go to neighboring towns until one can be located. This can take more than two hours." Shapiro said his agency has had several cases in which animals had far less serious injuries and exigent circumstances were used. Carnright agreed there is precedent for considering such cases as exigent circumstances, but he said it would not be his place to criticize Parker. He said Parker made a "fact-driven" decision on the case based on what was presented to him. Shapiro, on the other hand, described the verdicts as unjust. Carnright had no comment on the former assistant district attorney not providing evidence to the defense in a timely manner.

Source: dailyfreeman.com - May 25, 2011 Update posted on May 26, 2011 - 9:32PM

References

• ellenvillejournal.com - Jun 3, 2010 midhudsonnews.com - May 31, 2010 recordonline.com- May 31, 2010 dailyfreeman.com - May 31, 2010

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