Puppy Killer Still Free On Bail, For Now

On June 18th, John Lendino—a 53-year-old "deranged deaf mute"—stomped a 4-week-old pit bull puppy to death in Tompkins Square Park. He was in court yesterday wearing a Born To Be Wild t-shirt and sticking his tongue out at reporters, according to the NY Post, yet he remains free on $5,000 bail, a fact that has outraged many. Manhattan prosecutors say they're waiting for Lendino's psychiatric records before bringing him before a grand jury, however—which isn't due to happen until the end of November.

An eyewitness, 20-year-old Ali Martin—who lives in a van in the East Village and had given the puppy to a homeless man—declared, "If he's able to do that to an innocent puppy, he's obviously insane—and he could hurt a baby for all we know."

Martin had just gotten the pup a clean bill of health with the Humane Society, and the homeless man had been playing with him on a walkway near Avenue A and 7th Street when Lendino strolled up and stomped on its head until it was crushed. Lendino has been charged with felony cruelty to animals, which could land him four years behind bars.

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By Jen Carlson in News on September 9, 2010 5:35 PM

Comments [rss]

ali martin

hi I am Ali. A lot of you people are messed up. I was staying in a van at the moment trying to find work. we came up to new york city after living in Houston for a while, to come see my family and get our dogs fixed. the second day in town we left the dogs in the van, with the windows rolled down, for 5 minutes and when we came back they were stuck together. which meant we couldnt fix her until after her litter. so I stayed with them in the van or at my mothers house at all times. (we couldnt live with my mom since her landlord did not allow pits in the building). I took very good care off all the puppies. I made sure they were all healthy with visits to the vet. being that I was in living in a van, I did not want to keep the puppies very long knowing it wasnt fair to them to be in a small vehicle. so I gave them out to people I knew. One of which was my friend Jose. He is not homeless, just in between houses, mostly staying with friends. it is not easy to come up with the money to pay for an apartment in this city. The rest of the puppies were given to people with houses. (even though i dont really think that matters, you can still take care of a dog if you are on the street, the dog would acctually get more attention and love from it owner, do you really think that your dog is hapy with you gone at work all day just to come home and push him/her away because you are tired or stressed out) well, anyway the puppy was fine, they were all healthy and happy. and jose was playing with his puppy when that horrible man came over and looked down at the puppy and stomped down on his poor little head, and as he went to stomp again jose pushed him aside and a group of us ran off to the vet where the puppy died 20 minutes later due to head trauma.

I wasnt planning on letting my dog have puppies it just happened, (she is now fixed so dont worry about it) and I wasnt even planning on having a dog when I found her on the railroad tracks in brooklyn by the ave H Q train station in the middle of the winter, when she was just about 4 weeks old. if it wasnt for me she would be dead aswell.

and the father dog my husband had found in front of an abandonned house in houston texas when he was about 1 month old. he was covered i fleas and other mites that would make him cry all night because he was so itchy.

we took them both in and cared for them and gave them which is why they are alive today.

I love my dogs they are my family. I would never do anything to harm them. I gave the puppies to friends I knew would take care of them. I dont need your opinion on it. you dont even know my friends or me. you shouldnt talk sh*t on people you dont know and dont know anythng about.

youngpro

that's an image of a weimaraner not a pit!

ADB

Reading comprehension, kiddies!

The guy who got the puppy from the Humane Society lives in a van. Therefore, not homeless. He then gave the puppy to an actual homeless person, presumably to play with. Then a third upstanding citizen came over and stomped on the puppy.

Seriously, though, I blame Reagan for emptying the state-run mental health facilities for this.

HymietownHero

I am interested in this new pit bulls for the homeless program.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

There's no end to man's cruelty. why the fuck would he do such a horrific act? And Cy Vance has been letting animal abusers off with a slap on the wrist. man, i wish i had a gun.

youngpro

slap on the wrist? he was hit with a $5,000 bail, which he posted.

ktinnyc

You really come off as a coward. What would you do with a gun if you had one? This is a 53 year old homeless man. If you really want to kill him you wouldn't need a gun.

John L

Felix?

Where's Felix?

Youngpro! What did you do to Felix?

justthinkin

You give away a 4 week old puppy? The thing isn't even weaned yet. The poor dog certainly didn't deserve this, but Ali Martin probably could use a swift kick to the head.

Rocknrope

I blame Steppenwolf.

kazubes

why would you a give a puppy to a homeless person

Guest

and when you spill megatons of oil in this world, people give you cash!

i'm currently learning how to moonwalk. to. go. backwards. with. the. ~flow.