ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Animal rights advocates packed a Rochester City Council meeting Thursday night, demanding stronger protections for animals following the death of a dog found in a home on Third Street.
News10NBC’s Tom Kowalski was at City Hall for the meeting. The protests come about a month after a video surfaced online showing multiple dogs living in unsanitary conditions inside the Rochester home, sparking outrage among local animal advocates.
Lollypop Farm responded to the house Wednesday afternoon after Rochester police reported finding a dead dog inside the residence. The dog was taken by Lollypop Farm for a necropsy and four living dogs were also removed from the property.
Protesters say the death could have been prevented if Lollypop Farm had acted sooner, but the organization says it was legally unable to intervene earlier. The home is owned by Leticia Astacio, who discovered the dogs were being abused by her tenant.
“I contacted Animal Control and Lollipop Farm and everybody back in November and said, these dogs have been abandoned. This person doesn’t actually live here. You need to come and get the dogs. And they said, no, we think this is a landlord tenant dispute,” Astacio said.
“There’s been a lot of situations going on really recently. Like in the last three months where animals are, in horrific condition, in dire straits. And most recently, as of yesterday, one died,” said Suzanne Nugent, founder of Passion & Action, Advocates for Rochester’s Animals, or PAARA.
Animal rights attorney Matthew Albert says law enforcement has the right to seize dogs under New York State Agriculture & Markets Law 373 subsection 2. The law allows officers to obtain a warrant if they can show reasonable cause that a dog has been left in unsanitary or unhealthy conditions for more than 12 hours.
“What Lollipop seems to think is that, hey, as long as a guy is abusing a dog behind closed doors, he could do so and there’s nothing we can do about it,” Albert said.
In a statement, Lollypop Farm says while officers had responded to prior complaints at the home, there was legally nothing it could do since the dogs had access to food, water and shelter anytime investigators were there.
Advocates had planned to host a candlelight vigil for the dog that died. That vigil is being rescheduled.
Animal advocates urge Rochester City Council for stronger laws after dog’s death WHEC.com.
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