To the editor:
With the arrival of spring, I am reminded that April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month and, with your help, our team at the North Fork Animal Welfare League is committed to making our community cruelty-free. Animal cruelty and neglect cross all social and economic boundaries. READ
Decapitated goats and fruits and vegetables were discovered dumped in Calverton last month (Credit: SPCA courtesy photo)
After a series of gruesome animal deaths believed to be “ritual killings,” The Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals asking for volunteers to help investigate cases of animal cruelty.
In a news release, SPCA Chief Roy Gross said more investigators are needed due to the upsurge in animal cruelty cases, including the killings discovered in Riverhead and Calverton.
The first killing was discovered last month when three decapitated goats were found in Calverton. Then last Thursday, a Riverhead Town employee found three mutilated chickens on the railroad tracks near Hubbard Avenue.
Both the SPCA and the New York State Humane Society have offered thousands in rewards for information about the killings.
“We do believe it’s a ritualistic killing from some of these religious groups that think it’s OK to slaughter animals unjustifiably,” Mr. Gross said last week. “All too often this has been happening and it’s time to put a stop to it. We’re not in the dark ages any more.”
The SPCA is also conducting a joint investigation with Southold police into a duffel bag containing seven dead cats that was left on a beach in Orient last Thursday evening.
Volunteer investigators must pass a background check and have a valid drivers license. They will receive training on a variety of topics, including animal cruelty laws, criminal justice procedures, report writing and courtroom testimony.
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact the Suffolk County SPCA at (631) 382-7722 for more information and an application or go to the agency’s website to download an application.
The entrance to the Main Road preserve. (Credit: Carrie Miller)
About six weeks after a 14-week-old puppy was discovered shot dead in a garbage bag at Laurel Lake Preserve, no arrests have been made, the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals confirmed.
“It is still an ongoing investigation and we are still actively investigating,” Roy Gross, chief of the agency said. “We do certainly want to make an arrest in the case, but at this point there is nothing further that I can add.”
The puppy, a female border collie, was discovered by a man walking his dog on the evening of Oct. 16. It was found on the side of a path at the preserve in a shoebox, which was inside a garbage bag filled with sand, a Southold Town Animal Shelter manager said.
It matches the description of a dog reported missing by a Laurel teenager days earlier, according to information obtained from the Riverhead Animal Shelter.
The teenage girl, who lives on Peconic Bay Boulevard, filed the report for the missing puppy, a female border collie named Casey who had not been micro-chipped, on Oct. 12. The dog had been missing since Oct. 8, according to the report.
A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the person responsible for shooting the puppy found in Laurel, according to the SPCA.
“We are still asking anyone with information to call us at 631-382-7722. All calls are kept confidential,” Mr. Gross said.
The Suffolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever shot an arrow through a swan found in Riverhead.
The swan was found by a kayaker near Indian Island County Park on Friday, July 22, and it is recovering at the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays. That center also holds a box turtle found in East Hampton last week with a nail hammered through its shell.
The arrow was removed, but the bird is unable walk due to possible nerve damage.
The adult mute swan was struck by a hunting arrow, said Suffolk SPCA Chief Roy Gross.
“It was not a toy by any means,” he said of the weapon.
He called the attack “very disturbing. This was somebody going out of their way to hurt and animal. And it’s been proven that people who hurt animals hurt people.”
Chief Gross said the SPCA will pursue charges against whomever shot the swan, and added that animal cruelty is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Anyone with information can contact the Suffolk County SPCA at 631-382-7722. All calls will be kept confidential.