Updates

Goodmorning - I wanted to give you an update to yesterdays post regarding the animal abuse situation on Dana Street here in Rochester - I am reading most updates and hearing about them through Facebook.  I had requested that Matt, the founder of PAWS (Providing Animal Welfare Services) to call me and he did.  We spoke briefly - I asked him for the address and told him I wanted to do what I could by calling someone at RAS and my cop friend.  He gave me the address, and as I always do, I researched but could find nothing but the map image of the house on Google.  I couldn't find a name or anything.  I also sent a note to the supervisor at Rochester Animal Services that I am familiar with, and he sent me back a note copying Officer DiDomenico of Humane Society that they were investigating it, which meant NOTHING.  I then contacted my cop friend who called me later after going to the site, and speaking with her fellow officers.  Everyone is concerned, but with the Humane Society's DiDomenico's ruling that the guy has until MONDAY (that was a full 7 days these dogs had to continue to suffer) to clean up his act, law enforcement's hands are legally tied.  My friend will keep me updated this week.  I pointed out that she should be checking to see if this guy has his dogs up to date with rabie shots.  That would be another way to get them removed if they were not.   In my opinion, if everyone DID something - anything for the good, and not just comment on it, more would get done.  I cannot just sit back and do nothing.

Several years ago, on Short Street, where I have a feeding station, a woman let her Rottweiler starve to death in her garage in zero degree temperatures - the dog was seen discarded by the road for garbage pickup.  Her name was Love Jackson.  I attended her 'trial' on behalf of the dog, and almost had a fistfight with her in the courtroom because she and her homies were laughing and I felt she had no right to be laughing about anything so I continued to glare at her and she started up with me with 'you got a problem?' and I said 'yea, i do, your a dog killer'.  and on and on, and the deputies told me to stop looking at her, and told her to leave the courtroom until the judge came in.  I couldn't help myself.  Anyway, the arresting humane officer, Josh Muller, was there also and spoke to me later.  Nice guy.  Caring man.  Here is a post from yesterday's Facebook page where he is apparently on the Board of Directors for the PAWS group.  You will see my comment to him also below that.  Its somewhat lengthy, but its very interesting, and worth the read it if you care about animal abuse issues.  Just to clarify - I couldn't watch the video.
 

JOSH MULLER:    I wanted to take a minute to clarify some issues on this thread about the NYS Ag and Mkts laws and what and how certain things are enforced and how things work. First of all let me say that I will base what I say off of the video posted as I have not seen first hand conditions or animals in person. I was an SPCA law enforcement officer here from 2005 - 2011. I led numerous investigations and arrests at an high conviction rate of nearly 100%. That is actually how Matt and I met years ago. I currently sit on the Board of DIrectors for PAWS. Many people talk about laws and penalties and say the the laws are not strong enough or don't give officers the power to truly enforce them. This is simply not the case. It is clearly stated here the powers of a SPCA officer: § 371. Powers of peace officers. A constable or police officer must, and any agent or officer of any duly incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to animals may issue an appearance ticket pursuant to section 150.20 of the criminal procedure law, summon or arrest, and bring before a court or magistrate having jurisdiction, any person offending against any of the provisions of article twenty-six of the agriculture and markets law. Any officer or agent of any of said societies may lawfully interfere to prevent the perpetration of any act of cruelty upon any animal in his presence. Any of said societies may prefer a complaint before any court, tribunal or magistrate having jurisdiction, for the violation of any law relating to or affecting animals and may aid in presenting the law and facts before such court, tribunal or magistrate in any proceeding taken. With that being said once we actually get into Article 26 and start looking at the law you will see this section: § 353. Overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; failure to provide proper sustenance. A person who overdrives, overloads, tortures or cruelly beats or unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates or kills any animal, whether wild or tame, and whether belonging to himself or to another, or deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, food or drink, or neglects or refuses to furnish it such sustenance or drink, or causes, procures or permits any animal to be overdriven, overloaded, tortured, cruelly beaten, or unjustifiably injured, maimed, mutilated or killed, or to be deprived of necessary food or drink, or who wilfully sets on foot, instigates, engages in, or in any way furthers any act of cruelty to any animal, or any act tending to produce such cruelty, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor and for purposes of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 160.10 of the criminal procedure law, shall be treated as a misdemeanor defined in the penal law.
The most important and most frequently overlooked work in this section is sustenance which is defined by websters as: Definition of SUSTENANCE

1
a : means of support, maintenance, or subsistence : living
b : food, provisions; also : nourishment
2
a : the act of sustaining : the state of being sustained
b : a supplying or being supplied with the necessaries of life
3
: something that gives support, endurance, or strength So with that said here is my observation of the video: The first thing is the conditions are unsanitary, the dogs are living in feces and the dogs on chains have no clean area to escape their own feces and waste. Second is the body condition of the brown female. On the TACC(Tufts Animal Care and Conditioning) scale I would say she is a 4 out of 5(very underweight). She may be a 5(emaciated) but its hard to tell from the limited view. Third the chain is dangerously close to being imbedded. Just looking at how thin the dog is and how tight that chain is it poses a potential life threatening problem. Fourth, All the dogs are clearly in violation of the NYS shelter law. The shelters are not insulated per the climatic conditions/needs of the breed/puppies. there is no room for normal postural movements and no way again to escape their own waste. Fifth: There is no drinkable water and bread in no way constitutes proper sustenance. This is clear by the current body condition of the female. SIxth: the puppies are living in an unsafe condition and are exposed to the unsanitary conditions. If you were to ask my opinion would I have seized the dogs and charged the owner and the answer is yes. These violations fall under both the violation for the shelter but also the misdemeanor for the overall conditions and animal health. An SPCA officer has other tools at their disposal as well. A notice of intent could have been issued, This is usually issued to let the owner know if immediate corrections are not made they will be arrested. Depending on the officer it can be anywhere from 24 hours on. In this case I would say it wouldn't be warranted as I believe it is a chargeable situation. If the officer issued a vet slip that mandates the owner take all the dogs to a veterinarian within a certain amount of time along with a notice of intent I could see that being done. Usually the financial pressure of treating and transporting the animals forces the owner to surrender them. I cant say if any of these things were done simply because I don't know I tried not to get too involved with all the legal stuff but I can say that I personally made arrests and secured convictions with less than is on this video. Normal course in a case like this is once all the paperwork is filed and a preliminary hearing is done it is most likely sent to a grand jury for indictment. Then to trial at a later date. Hope this helps

Janine Wagner Josh, I remember you showing your support for me in court when I attended the 'trial' of Ms. Love (forgot her first name) when she starved her dog to death on Short Street a few years ago. You are a good man. Thank you for all you have written above. I wish there were more like you in law enforcement.

Josh Muller Janine, thank you. That was a horrible case and a dog that suffered a slow and terrible death. I can honestly say this though, with a person like Matt at the helm of PAWS, the amount of good things coming to this community are endless.