A Galloway Township man who helped out Pleasantville's Animal Control Officer pleaded guilty to an animal-cruelty charge in Municipal Court on Thursday.
Richard Kelly, 18, will never work as an animal-control officer again, said Nancy Beall, the president of the Atlantic County chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Municipal Court Judge Richard Fauntleroy fined Kelly $250 for two incidents involving animals the defendant picked up in Pleasantville.
When Sam Holland, the animal-control officer contracted to work for the city, was away in August, he allowed Kelly, who was studying to be an animal-control officer, to do some of his work.
Kelly picked up a cat on Aug. 9. It was infested with maggots. He put it in the night-drop at the ASPCA in Pleasantville. The next day shelter employees found the cat dead, Beall said.
The next day Kelly picked up a boxer injured in a dogfight. The dog allegedly had a gaping hole in its groin and was in shock.
The shelter turned it away and told Kelly to bring it to a veterinarian immediately. It was dying. Instead, Kelly left the dog in a pen at Holland's house and it died there alone, Beall said.
Kelly pleaded guilty to a civil complaint rather than criminal complaints.
Beall said the SPCA didn't want the young man to have to pay hefty fines or have a criminal record. But the SPCA wanted to make sure that Kelly never worked in animal control again.
"I called Sam (Holland) Thursday and said he better never work with this kid again," Beall said. "Kelly used poor judgment. He just didn't think." References | Press of Atlantic City |
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