Update: Woman charged after puppies dumped in Riverhead
Update: An Amityville woman is facing animal cruelty charges for allegedly dumping two mange-ravaged puppies in Riverhead on Dec. 18, Suffolk County SPCA officials announced Sunday.
One of the puppies later died on Christmas Day.
Swaneka Danzler, 21, admitted to SPCA investigators that she dumped the puppies in a window well of Riverhead Animal Hospital about 1 a.m. on Dec. 18, officials said, crediting SPCA officers with making the arrest.
According to online court records, a woman by the same name and year of birth was arrested by Suffolk County police on Aug. 4, though the exact charges were not listed. She is due back in court Jan. 24, the records show.
She was also arrested in North Carolina in 2009, according to an arrests database in that state.
Local SPCA officials were able to confirm the name and birth date of the woman arrested in N.C., whose photo appears above, as a match.
She was issued a field appearance ticket and will answer to the charges in court, officials said.
Prior Coverage: Christmas wasn’t a magical time for all on the North Fork as one of two pit bull puppies left in a window well at the Riverhead Animal Hospital last week lost the fight for his life after succumbing to infections caused by the severe mange on his body.
“It is with great sadness that we have to report that brave little Nicky passed away Christmas Day,” North Fork Animal Welfare League executive director Gillian Wood Pultz wrote on suffolktimes.com Wednesday morning. “He had been hospitalized since coming under our care, but his poor body was just too ravished by the neglect he had endured.”
The tiny 10-to 12-week-old puppy, who in the overnight hours Dec. 18 was abandoned at the Riverhead vet along with another dog, Noel, was suffering from mange so severe that the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said an examination revealed his skin was peeling off.
“He was just unfortunately allowed to get way too sick before his owner did anything,” Ms. Wood Pultz said. “He was skin and bones; literally raw meat.”
At the time of their hospitalization, Nicky began receiving intravenous fluids because he was took weak to eat or drink, according to the Suffolk County SPCA.
SPCA investigators are now searching for the owner of the dogs.
“This is a blatant act of cruelty and abandonment and we will do everything we can to see that those responsible are apprehended,” SPCA Chief Roy Gross said.
Anyone with information can contact the Suffolk County SPCA at (631) 382-7722. All calls will be kept confidential.
The other puppy, who is also believed to be 10-to-12 weeks old is doing “good,” Ms. Wood Pultz said. “Noel’s on the couch in my office right now,” she said this morning.
Donations to help with her care are much appreciated and should be made to the North Fork Animal Welfare League, P.O. Box 297, Southold NY, 11971. directed to the Nick and Noel Guardian Angel Fund.
