Not a very good neighbor

From PIX11:

In a disturbing video posted on Facebook, a pack of dogs are seen running scared in a yard in Far Rockaway, Queens.

Their owner appears to verbally and physically abuse them on-camera, in broad daylight. It’s a scene too disturbing to show on television, but residents tell PIX11 it’s just another day at the Thursby Avenue home.

“He started beating all the dogs, I saw that the dogs were very skinny and bleeding,” Tamara Demkoff, a local animal advocate, described to PIX11.

Demkoff shot the disturbing video on her cell phone back in February. According to her, she’s one of many from the community who has pleaded with the dogs’ owner, identified as Terrance Alexis, to surrender the animals after receiving numerous complaints from neighbors.

“Everybody knows about this guy, but no one does anything about it because everybody is afraid of him,” she said.

Months after that video was taken, it appears the problems on the property have gotten worse.

One Flushing cat caught, others escape

From PIX11:

A group of felines stuck behind a wall in Queens were able to find a way out — but now their whereabouts are a mystery.

The cats were stuck behind the 15 foot wall for three days, likely thirsty and hungry when PIX11 arrived on the scene last Thursday. After the story aired, city officials, and those with Animal Care Centers of NYC and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals tried to help the cats.

They put up a ladder to look over the wall, but were surprised to see no kittens. It seems the felines had escaped through a small hole at the back part of the ally.

One of the kittens was found roaming around where the ally once was, and was captured and treated, Carol Yao, a trained animal rescuer who works with organizations Kitty Kind and Angelico, said on Sunday.

Hopes are high they will locate the rest of the kittens on the building property.

Property owner traps kittens by building a wall

From PIX11:

The clock is ticking to rescue a group of cats trapped behind a brick wall in Queens.

They’ve been stuck for three days and are likely thirsty and hungry. Animal rescue groups and concerned residents are trying to save them; they reached out to PIX11 for help.

For months, the cats had been living in a narrow alley like area between an apartment building and garage on Northern Blvd. They’ve won the hearts of people in this neighborhood who stopped by to feed them.

A wall about 15 feet high was built on either end trapping the felines inside.They’re now out of sight - and their conditions unknown.

Sadly, the one cat that did escape before the wall went up now wanders on the other side and gazes up at the wall, trying to find a way to get back with his family.

[Carol] Yao says they have offered to pay for the cost to knock down a section of the wall.

Looking to adopt the Ridgewood cats?

From CBS:

On Tuesday, Animal Control replaced the usual construction crews. CBS2’s cameras were rolling as five cats were rescued.

But when Bauman tried asking the building’s owner why construction went on for so long with so many furry tenants inside, there was no response.

“There was no way they started tearing down this whole building and never saw these close to 40 cats,” O’Neill said.

“At some point, you see them somewhere,” Aguirre said.

Animal Control told CBS2 they will continue to leave traps and safety remove animals until it is clear all the cats are out of the building. And until then, construction is on hold.

The volunteers are still trying to find home for many of the cats. To find out how you can adopt, click here.

Developer leaves cats to die in gutted Ridgewood building

I'm posting this so you can understand the level of depravity of the developers that have infiltrated our communities. The background is dark, so please click on the Facebook post to read it.

In an era where a worker death is simply written off as the cost of doing business, it's no surprise that animals are being subjected to this.



Although the above post claims a stop work order is in effect, there is none as evidenced by DOB's own website:

Ain't gentrification at any cost just grand?

Ridgewood dog abuser arrested

From the Daily News:

A Queens man who let his pet Boxer get skeletally thin and suffer huge sores all over his body after months of neglect was arrested Monday, police said.

The pooch, named Brewster by rescuers, weighed just 25 pounds — half of his target body weight — when he was discovered by a good Samaritan curled up in a Ridgewood field last week, officials said.

Owner Anthony Esteves, 25, who lives in the neighborhood, allegedly deprived the dog of food, water and veterinary care between July 1 and Oct. 13, cops said.

Brewster has been recovering with a foster family since the leaving the vet.

Animal cruelty complaints to go through Crimestoppers hotline

From DNA Info:

The city has now opened up its anonymous Crime Stoppers hotline to accept animal cruelty complaints from across the five boroughs, officials said.

The ASPCA announced a partnership Wednesday with the NYPD's Crime Stoppers program, which will now have its operators take down information about animal cruelty in the city the same way they do for murders, shootings, rapes and other major crimes.

Tipsters can call the hotline and will also be eligible for an award of up to $2,500 for tips that lead to an arrest and indictment for animal cruelty, the ASPCA said.

Previously, tipsters could report possible cruelty by calling 311 or 911.

Dromm is go-to guy on banning horse carriages

From the NY Observer:

Councilman Daniel Dromm, a Queens Democrat, will introduce a bill to ban horse-drawn carriages from city streets, according to a source with knowledge of the legislation.

Mr. Dromm, one of the body’s more liberal members, has been at the forefront of the drive to outlaw the carriages and his role in the bill’s introduction comes as little surprise. Last night, the Observer reported that long-awaited legislation will be introduced as early as the next City Council meeting on December 8.

The bill, a de Blasio administration initiative, will offer displaced carriage drivers free green taxi medallions on the condition that they purchase handicapped-accessible cabs. The union representing the carriage drivers panned the proposal while animal rights activists celebrated Mayor Bill de Blasio’s apparent commitment to one of his more high profile and unpopular–according to polls, at least–campaign pledges.

ASPCA & NYPD form animal cruelty unit

From NBC:

For years, when the ASPCA received a report of animal cruelty, their own enforcement unit, composed mostly of former police officers, would investigate. That's all changed now that the ASPCA has teamed up with the NYPD -- now current cops do the investigating and the ASPCA does the veterinary work. Andrew Siff has an exclusive look inside the new unit.

Someone's hurting cats in Astoria

Hello,

In December, our beloved community cats went missing, and despite numerous attempts to report the situation, we were unable to get help from authorities. Taking matters into our own hands, we started posting ads on Craig's list and we created a website (astoria7.org) and Facebook page (Astoria7). We soon discovered there were many missing or dead (but mostly missing) cats in Astoria.

We are not sure what is going here, but we do know that there is not enough being done to investigate all these disappearances. We have begun going to local community board and community council meetings in an effort to get more cooperation from local authorities. We are also compiling the many reports of animal abuse and missing animals, and we will be sending these to city officials so that they can see that there is an animal protection crisis in New York City.

Regards,
Mary Witty

Cockfighting ring busted

From the Daily News:

The chickens came home to roost Sunday for members of a bloodthirsty New York cockfighting and betting ring.

As many as 3,000 birds were seized and more than 70 people rounded up in "Operation Angry Birds," the largest cockfighting takedown and rooster rescue in state history, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.

State investigators carried out three simultaneous raids that stretching from Saturday night into Sunday morning, busting up a cockfighting event in Queens, a secret rooster coop in Brooklyn and breeding farm in upstate Ulster County.

Nine people were arrested.

The crackdown began Saturday night as Schneiderman's Organized Crime Task Force joined state police and U.S. Department of Homeland Security cops to execute a search warrant at 74-26 Jamaica Ave. in Woodhaven, Queens, where chicken-livered rooster owners, gamblers and spectators were watching birds fight to the death.

Six people who brought and fought gamecocks at the event were arrested and charged with animal fighting, a felony punishable in New York by a maximum penalty of four years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

The Woodhaven location, a two-story rowhouse with a shuttered first floor barber shop, hosted cockfights twice a month, an informant told cops, who zeroed in on the spot last May. It stank of wet bird feathers Sunday.

The unnamed informant, who made video recordings of an event for authorities in the lead-up to the takedown, admitted he bred, trained and fought roosters for roughly 10 years before turning in his non-feathered friends.

The roosters were plied with performance-enhancing drugs and fitted with razor-sharp spurs to tear each other apart in a small pen surrounded by alcohol-swilling gamblers, authorities said.

Spectators were charged admission and seating fees and booze was sold without a permit during the all-night fights. The ring even had security guards who frisked spectators and wagers reached as much as $10,000.

"I don't know what they were doing in there," said Sammy Ayala, who works down the street. "I never saw any chickens."

New policy causing animals to get the shaft

From the NY Post:

Animal-cruelty cases are being brushed aside because neither the ASPCA nor NYPD is taking the reins on enforcement.

The ASPCA laid off its law-enforcement investigators last month after announcing the NYPD was taking over “the lead role” in protecting animals — but police now insist they aren’t in charge, either.

Last week, the ASPCA released a statement saying, “The NYPD will now take the lead role in responding to all animal-cruelty complaints in the five boroughs . . . All eight NYPD patrol boroughs have been trained.”

But the NYPD has not yet rolled out the program or trained cops — and says it may never do so.

“The expansion of the program is under review . . . Staffing questions should be referred to the ASPCA,” NYPD Deputy Chief Kim Royster said.

“The NYPD will properly investigate abuse against animals.”

The switch over to the NYPD was put into motion in August, when the ASPCA’s newly appointed president, Matthew Bershadker, said the police had more manpower for handling the flood of calls his agency normally gets.

It's ok, I'm sure animal rights activist mayor Bill DeBlasio is going to take care of this, just as he got rid of the Central Park hansom cabs.

Oh, wait a minute...

Queens people behaving badly

From the NY Post:

Cops responding to a domestic dispute in Queens Sunday found a squalid apartment filled with endangered children, abused pit bulls, dangerous snakes and a lizard.

Cops took Jasean Holmes from the run-down Richmond Hill flat, and arrested them both after seeing evidence of animal cruelty and danger to the five children.

Sources said cops have been called to the house dozens of times on domestic disputes, but never arrested the father because his wife would not press charges.

But this time, sources said, Holmes, 29, tangled with his wife after an EMS unit responded, and crew members witnessed the attack.

The EMS crew had actually arrived on the scene first around 8 a.m. in response to a call that someone had been bitten by a dog.

There, they saw the couple squabbling outside their home, and called police when the man started beating his wife and kicking one of the dogs.

Cops who arrived found four children, ages 7 through 11, in their apartment, along with five adult pit bulls, 10 pit bull puppies, two boa constrictor snakes and a lizard.

Holmes was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, torturing or injuring animals, acting in a manner injurious to a child, and assault for allegedly hitting his wife.

It was unclear if the woman would face any charges.

From the NY Post:

A tipsy squabble outside a strip club erupted into a bizarre catfight — complete with the stabbing of a helpful bystander — in Queens early Saturday, cops said.

A jealous threesome of women — Teira Fisher, 29, Tamara Fuller, 26, and Jazmine Smith — allegedly followed two other ladies from a nightclub to Riviera Gentleman’s Club in Astoria because they were mad the gals had gotten into the VIP section even though they were rejected.

The nightlife bullies then started hollering high-school-style insults such as “Snob!” and “You’re stuck up!” before punching the poor ladies in the face at around 3:15 a.m., according to police.

A bystander tried to break up the catty smackdown, but a boyfriend of one of the attackers then stabbed the good Samaritan in the thigh and cheek with a sharp object, police sources said.

The three women and the boyfriend, Robert Annunziatta, were charged with harassment and assault, police sources said.

Shark fin soup may soon be a thing of the past

From the Daily News:

The New York state Senate voted unanimously on Tuesday to outlaw the shark fin trade.

The bill now heads to the Assembly, which passed the same measure last year, only to have it die in the Senate without a vote.

If the bill is again approved by the Assembly, where it enjoys sponsorship from 43 of the body’s 150 members, it will head to Gov. Cuomo’s desk.

Environmental groups estimate that 73 million sharks are stripped of their fins and dumped back into the ocean, where they sink to the bottom and drown. The fins are then used as the main ingredient in the Chinese delicacy shark fin soup.

Since California and four other states banned the sale, purchase and distribution of shark fins, New York has become the leading hub of trade for the coveted product in the United States.

Happy ending for tossed puppy

From Eyewitness News:

A little dog was stuffed into a garbage bag and very close to being dumped at a landfill.

An eagle eyed sanitation worker saw the bag move and opened it to find a big surprise.

She found Victoria, a little Shih Tzu inside.

Now, police are searching for the owner.

For Vicky Roman it's almost too painful to talk about.

She was picking up trash in Astoria, Queens and found a tiny, purebred Shih Tzu stuffed in a garbage bag.

"I reached for the bag and something moved and I found her inside the bag. If she had not moved, she would have been in the back of that truck, most definitely," Roman said.

The dog was caked in her own filth. Her eyes were matted-shut and her fur was so tangled-up in her overgrown nails she could barely stand.

The dog was taken to BARC, an animal shelter in Williamsburg, where vets and volunteers are astounded by her recovery.

Unstable stables

From the Daily News:

A popular urban stable in Queens is being temporarily shuttered after city officials said an “alarming” number of horses died at the site, the Daily News has learned.

Six horses died in the last half of 2012 without “adequate explanation” at the Cedar Lane Stables, a city concession run by the Federation of Black Cowboys, Parks Department inspectors said.

Some horses were malnourished and housed without proper food and bedding, according to documents obtained by The News. One horse named Wyatt tried to eat its bedding of wood shavings in a stall with no water or hay.

The existing concession — a “rough board” arrangement — allows the federation to rent out about 50 stalls to individual horse owners for about $165 a month. But the cowboys are under no obligation to care for those animals.

Some owners who board at the stable hire caretakers to make sure their horses are exercised, groomed and fed. But others do not. Members of the Federation are also boarders at the stables.

Time to toss out the trash

From DNA Info:

A bodybuilder convicted of killing his Chinese Shar-Pei by tossing the dog out an Astoria window is now facing deportation.

Milan Rysa pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless endangerment for the September 2011 death of his 50-pound dog, Brooklyn, who plummeted from a third-floor apartment window on Steinway Street.

Rysa, 31, was released in April after serving two-thirds of his yearlong sentence, officials said.

But now, based on that conviction, immigration officials have set a deportation hearing for May that could land him back in his native Czech Republic.

Too much free time on their hands?

From the Daily News:

The City Council just keeps churning out legislative solutions to problems that don’t exist but make for good press releases.

Queens Councilman Peter Vallone would make it a misdemeanor for anyone convicted of abusing an animal to buy a new pet.

Although there is no evidence of this ever happening, Vallone would make the Health Department distribute lists of convicted dog kickers and cat beaters to pet stores, shelters and breeders. Sellers would have to check buyers’ identification against the list. Cruel purchasers could be fined and jailed for up to a year.

Then there’s Brooklyn Councilman David Greenfield, who would order restaurants to post lists of all the foods used in their kitchens that could trigger allergic reactions in patrons.

While people with allergies to ingredients like eggs, nuts, milk, wheat, fish and soy know full well what to avoid or ask about, Greenfield is convinced New Yorkers need protection from unknown perils.

Queens company selling dog fur products

From CBS 2:

The Humane Society is sounding the alarm on what it said is a highly disturbing investigation involving dogs.

The organization found that dog fur is being used in products ordered online, although it’s illegal, and is worried that the cruelty behind the products may be more widespread than anyone knows.

Patrick Kwan of The Humane Society led a two-year investigation into the sale of dog fur. Acting on a tip, the society ordered items online from a Queens company.

Lab analysis confirmed that the fur came from a dog, even though dog-fur use has been outlawed since 2000.

Shark fin products to be banned in NYS?

From the NY Times:

On Tuesday, legislators in New York State announced a bill that, following the example of Western states, would ban the sale, trading, possession and distribution of shark fins, possibly as of 2013. California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington are enacting similar bans that were passed last year, while Florida, Illinois, Maryland and Virginia have legislation pending.

The bill in New York is sponsored in the Assembly by Alan Maisel, Linda B. Rosenthal and Grace Meng, who represents the heavily Asian district of Flushing, Queens, and is the only Asian-American in the Assembly. Identical bills are expected to be introduced in both houses of the Legislature.

Ms. Meng, the daughter of immigrants who worked in and owned Chinese restaurants, said at a news conference in Manhattan on Tuesday that she “loved shark fin soup.”

“This is going to be a huge adjustment for the community,” she added, “but it’s important to be responsible citizens.”