By Dan Murphy
Two Westchester County legislators, both of whom are animal lovers, recently joined together to try and strengthen animal abuse laws and reactivate the animal abuse registry. The work of Legislators Margaret Cunzio and Virginia Perez came after an unfortunate incident of animal abuse came to light in Westchester.
“Pebbles” is the pit bull puppy who was rescued from an abusive owner who was arrested for throwing and kicking the animal. A neighbor who witnessed and captured the video of the abuse alerted Yonkers police, prompting the arrest. Pebbles was also accompanied by Yonkers Police Officer Neville Bennett, who adopted Pebbles last week, to an appearance at a Westchester County Board of Legislators committee meeting where lawmakers were discussing Westchester’s Animal Abuser Registry.
Officer Ernie Lungano from the SPCA of Westchester cared for Pebbles after she was rescued.
Cunzio has opened her home to foster more than 250 cats, kittens, dogs and puppies waiting for adoption over the last 15 years. She has also rescued and transported 231 cats, 29 dogs, nine rabbits and one guinea pig to “no kill” shelters in that time.
“It is time for us to re-examine the legislation the animal abuser registry is based on,” she said. “The registry was intended to provide important information for the pet community to ensure that we know who the animal abusers are and therefore can avoid putting animals in harm’s way. Research shows us that behaviors like animal cruelty are often an indicator of sociopathic tendencies that could just as easily be directed toward children, the elderly, a spouse or others. It is time to give the animal abuser registry the power it was intended to have in order to keep pets out of the hands of known animal abusers.”
Perez, a dog owner and fellow animal lover, echoed those sentiments.
“We will make sure that all county entities, from courts to the district attorney to the county police, are well coordinated and empowered to enforce this important provision,” she said. “Regardless of what crime they plead guilty to, I want to see mandatory inclusion on the animal abuser registry for anyone charged with animal cruelty. It has been said that the greatness of a society can be judged on how they care for their most vulnerable. We have the tools to help protect these animals and it is time to make sure this registry is being used properly.”
Cunzio and Perez questioned Captain Mark Busche from the Westchester County Department of Public Safety about why, after six years on the books, the animal abuser registry only has two names listed as violators when a far greater number of animal abuse cases have been adjudicated in that time, including a man who pleaded guilty to raping a golden retriever and was sentenced to more than six years in prison back in 2013.
Busche indicated that there may be some gaps in the way the registry is administrated.
The Westchester County Animal Abuser Registry was created by the Board of Legislators in 2012 through the passage of a local law, and the way the law is written requires a judge to place an offender on the registry; there are questions as to whether that happens when an accused abuser accepts a plea bargain to a charge that is less severe than animal cruelty.
County Attorney John Nonna also appeared at the committee meeting and offered his department’s help in amending the law to close any existing loopholes.
Pebbles is one tough dog, and is slowly recuperating from his injuries. Visit spca914.org or call 914-941-2896 for more information.
