A Long Island man shot two of his German shepherd dogs in the head with a rifle, leading investigators to a nightmarish illegal slaughter operation in his backyard, according to authorities.
Carlos Lauro, 76, of Riverhead, was arrested Thursday after one of his dogs, a one-year-old named Blitzkrieg, was found paralyzed with a gunshot wound to the head in a pen on Lauro’s property along 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 the police arrived at Lauro’s house, they learned that a month earlier he had savagely killed a 6-month-old puppy.
Lauro allegedly shot the puppy, named Cranky, in the back after it refused to enter his house. When another resident took the dog inside the home to treat its wounds, Lauro dragged the dog outside and shot it in the head, police said.
Carlos Lauro was arrested Thursday after one of his dogs, a one-year-old boy named Blitzkrieg, was found paralyzed with a gunshot wound to the head. Kaspars Grinvalds – stock.adobe.com
Police executed a search warrant at the property and found eight other dogs, as well as a “multitude” of pigs, cows and chickens “living in deplorable conditions without access to clean food and water.”
Numerous deceased farm animals, including a goat and a pig, were also discovered on the property. The nature of their deaths is under investigation.
John Di Leonardo, executive director of Humane Long Island, which helps find foster homes for some of the rescued animals, described the macabre scene.
When the police arrived at Lauro’s house, they learned that a month earlier he had savagely killed a 6-month-old puppy. ÐÑиÑÑина Ð§Ð¸Ð¶Ð¼Ð°Ñ – stock.adobe.com
“They were sick and injured animals living among the corpses of their friends,” Leonardo, an anthrozoologist, told The Post on Friday night. “Everywhere you looked there were fresh bones or bodies. There are skins lying on the ground, birds torn apart, legs sticking out of the ground; It looks like a war zone there.”
Di Leonardo said his organization had reported the slaughterhouse observation to New York State Agriculture and Markets last year. He believes the dogs’ lives could have been saved if the agency had taken action sooner.
“This unlicensed slaughterhouse operation was allowed to continue until someone brought it to light that these two German shepherds were murdered,” he said.
Humane Long Island has taken in between 50 and 60 chickens, two goats and a baby sheep that were injured or mistreated, Di Leonardo said.
A Long Island man shot two of his German shepherd dogs in the head with a rifle. Irina Volkova – stock.adobe.com
The Suffolk Animal Cruelty Treatment Trust (FACTS) covers the costs of caring for the dogs.
Riverhead City Attorney Erik C. Howard said the city has received numerous complaints about Lauro and his property over the years that have led to prosecutions for illegal sale of animals, attempts to operate an illegal slaughterhouse, loose farm animals and other property problems.
“This is a particularly horrific example of cruelty,” District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement. “While we were unfortunately unable to rescue all of the animal victims our investigators found on this defendant’s property, we will seek justice for them.”
He is charged with aggravated animal cruelty, a felony, and three counts of neglect of a seized animal, a misdemeanor.
Riverhead City Justice Court Judge Sean Walter ordered him held without bail at his arraignment. He is scheduled to appear in court on January 17.
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