A Long Island man has been charged with starving his daughter's dog to death, Suffolk County police said. Jason Griffin, 27, of Northport, was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, police said.
Police said officers and the SPCA went to Griffin's house on Jan 28, 2006 after receiving a report of a dead dog. Officers found the emaciated remains of a Labrador retriever-pit bull mix that had been adopted from the Brookhaven Animals Shelter last year.
Griffin said he bought the dog for his 7-year-old daughter. The animal was kept in a cage in their apartment.
Police said they delayed the arrest because Griffin and his daughter were on a five-day vacation to Disney World in Florida and returned on Monday.
Police notified Suffolk Child Protective Services of the conditions in the apartment, and the girl was put in the custody of her paternal grandparents. Case Updates| Posted on Feb 12, 2006 - 1:35PM | Wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and sporting a shaved head, Griffin got choked up and teary-eyed at his arraignment in 1st District Court in Central Islip. Spectators in the courtroom quietly heckled Griffin as he tried to explain himself to the judge. "Look at him, he's crying," one man said of Griffin, who pleaded not guilty. "He'll be crying in Riverhead, too."
Griffin's mother ran out of the courtroom in tears after bail was set at $20,000 cash or $60,000 bond. "He wasn't a tenant. Tenants pay rent," the source said of Griffin, adding that the homeowner, whose wife died in 2000, had a soft spot for the smooth-talking father. "He's got a sugar-coated tongue."
Griffin's daughter is in the custody of his parents. | | Source: NY Daily News - February 1, 2006 |
References« Back to Search Results
|
