A Long Island man shot two of his German Shepherd dogs in the head with a rifle – leading investigators to a gruesome illegal slaughter operation in his backyard, according to officials.
Carlos Lauro, 76, of Riverhead, was arrested Thursday after one of his dogs, a year-old named Blitzkrieg, was found paralyzed with a gunshot wound to the head lying in a shed on Lauro’s property next to a dead goat, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Police were alerted after the dog was taken to VCA Westbury Veterinary Hospital in Westbury. When police arrived at Lauro’s home, they learned he had killed a 6-month-old puppy a month earlier.
Lauro allegedly shot the puppy, named Cranky, in the back after he refused to come inside his home. When another resident brought the dog back inside the home to treat its wounds, Lauro dragged the dog back outside and shot it in the head, police said.
Carlos Lauro was arrested Thursday after one of his dogs, a one-year-old named Blitzkrieg, was found paralyzed with a gunshot wound to the head. Kaspars Grinvalds – stock.adobe.com
Police executed a search warrant on the property and found eight other dogs, as well as “multiple” pigs, cows and chickens “living in deplorable conditions without access to food and clean water.”
Many dead farm animals – including baby goats and pigs – were also found on the property. The nature of their deaths is under investigation.
John Di Leonardo, Executive Director of Humane Long Island, which helped find foster homes for some of the rescued animals, described the horrific incident.
When police arrived at Lauro’s home, they learned he had killed a 6-month-old puppy a month earlier. ÐÑиÑÑина Ð§Ð¸Ð¶Ð¼Ð°Ñ – stock.adobe.com
“It’s sick and injured animals living among the corpses of their friends,” Leonardo, an anthrozoologist, told The Post on Friday night. “Everywhere you see there are bones or fresh bodies. There were skins stuck on the ground, birds torn apart, legs sticking out of the ground — it looked like a war zone there.”
Di Leonardo said his organization reported the slaughterhouse observations to New York State Agriculture and Markets last year. He thinks the dog’s life could have been saved if the agency had taken action sooner.
“The operation of this unlicensed slaughterhouse is allowed to continue until someone reports that these two German Shepherds were killed,” he said.
Humane Long Island has taken in about 50 to 60 chickens, two baby goats, and a baby sheep that were all injured or abused, Di Leonardo said.
A Long Island man shot his two German Shepherds in the head with a rifle. Irina Volkova – stock.adobe.com
The Fund For Animal Cruelty Treatment of Suffolk (FACTS) provides care costs for dogs.
Town of Riverhead Attorney Erik C. Howard said the town has received numerous complaints about Lauro and his property over the years that have led to prosecutions for illegal animal sales, attempts to operate an illegal slaughterhouse, loose farm animals and other property issues.
“This is a horrific example of cruelty,” District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement. “While unfortunately we were unable to rescue all of the animal victims our investigators found on this defendant’s property, we will seek justice for them.”
He was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony, and three counts of neglect of an impounded animal, a misdemeanor.
Riverhead Town Justice Court Judge Sean Walter ordered that he be held without bail at his arraignment. He is scheduled to appear in court on January 17.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
