The Susquehanna Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is closed to the public after taking in dozens of rescued animals from a weekend raid.
After nearly 80 animals were seized from a Schoharie County home Saturday, 11 puppies, 12 adult dogs, four horses and five chickens have landed at the Susquehanna SPCA.
“My staff every single day are blown away that we still have 11 puppies,” said Stacie Haynes.
Stacie Haynes is the organization’s Executive Director. A number of puppies found in the town of Carlisle — at what she called a backyard breeding operation — were lost to illness. But, Haynes says her staff has been working tirelessly to treat those that survived.
“This morning you could hear the cheers probably in Albany because [staff] came in and everybody was alive and they seem to be turning the corner. I dare say so far we’re seeing a miracle,” said Haynes.
Republican State Senator Jim Tedisco has proposed a suite of animal cruelty legislation over the past year following a series of high-profile abuse cases.
One of Tedisco’s goals is to establish a state-wide animal abuser registry – currently 26 of New York’s 62 counties have their own registries.
“Somebody can come from another county, even if they have a registry in that county, go to one that even has a registry in their county and still adopt an animal because they don’t have the same names on every county. They only have the names of those people who committed those crimes in their county. We need a state-wide registry and I have the bill for that,” said Tedisco.
Republican Carlisle Town Supervisor John Leavitt says Schoharie County officials have held off on implementing their own local registry given the looming promise of a state-wide list.
“It seems to be a reoccurring problem that we have. People just start collecting these animals and they can’t afford or just don’t have the willingness to take care of them the way that they should be,” said Leavitt.
Haynes recognizes the importance of establishing a state-wide registry, but adds plenty more would need to be done to prevent similar cases.
“We need stronger animal cruelty laws. Period. In order to get on an animal abuse registry you have to be convicted. OK, so three people go on the registry a year, then, typically, from where we stand when we got one in Otsego County the onus is on the animal shelter. We have to check the registry and we’re the ones that get in trouble if that person gets an animal from us instead of holding them accountable,” said Haynes.
Tedisco is also pushing to mandate psychiatric evaluation and treatment for those convicted of animal cruelty in addition to expanding the penalties for abusers to a $5,000 fine and 10 years in prison.
“We need them to, after they commit a serious crime like this is, never own a companion pet or animal again. And we really have to take this seriously. It’s not just about the safety and protection of animals that give us so much unconditional love and service, it’s about protecting people and families. If you check with the FBI they know it’s an indicator. This type of abuse, people who have these mental problems or are just bad people, they’re going to go on to hurt human beings,” said Tedisco.
On top of expanded penalties, Haynes says training state and local law enforcement on current animal abuse laws would go a long way.
“If we had a real training officers received and heard so that they felt empowered and educated and prepared for when these cases hit, that would be the most impactful,” said Haynes.
Due to a number of the surrendered puppies testing positive for parvovirus, the Susquehanna SPCA has been closed to the public.
However, Haynes emphasizes that the temporary closure does not mean the shelter has paused adoption efforts.
“So, we still have 20-ish dogs available for adoption that have not been in the building, have not been exposed to parvo that people can call and make appointments to meet. And if we can’t meet them downtown at a park or something, we can always meet them at the farm,” said Haynes.
The Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office has not yet charged anyone in connection with this weekend’s case.
