neighbors called 311 to complain. more ›

The ASPCA is investigating a strange case in Staten Island: Someone shot a Port Richmond Yorkshire Terrier, who was sitting on the front porch, with an air rifle on Tuesday. The dog died in surgery the next day. more ›

- This past weekend, a Queens man was arrested for animal cruelty. Oswald Joudan faces up to a year in a prison and a $2,000 fine for a number of terrible things he did to his Chow Chow "Lumpy" (pictured). A neighbor called the ASPCA, which found the dog so badly beaten that its face is distorted. The dog was also starved to the point of being 30 pounds (!!) underweight and had a 14-inch collar on the its 17-inch neck that was so restricting that it was embedded in the flesh. The dog needed 100 stitches to close up the wound. The ASPCA will determine whether the dog, who has a "great disposition" and will be renamed, can be adopted, but in the meantime, you can call 212-876-7700 to find out. more ›

There's a really sad story about a Central Park carriage horse that died Thursday night in the NY Times today. Antonio Provenzano had be driving his horse Juliet and carriage on Thursday night, when Juliet collapsed, he called his vet who instructed him to strike her "repeatedly in the flank with his thin five-foot whip to get her to her feet again" which he did. The thinking was that Juliet, a 37 year old horse, had colic and the whipping would make her get up and walk around to "rid herself of gas and waste." But a crowd of people and gathered and yelled things like "Stop beating that horse; you’re going to kill it" and a police officer told Provenzano to stop or he would be arrested.

“I’ve been around horses 30 years and I love my horse,” he said. “They think I want to hurt her?” When the veterinarian and officers from the mounted unit showed up at the park Thursday night, Mr. Provenzano was told he could resume the whipping. more ›

There are lunatics out there. Some jerk left a 2 pound ham in Central Park that a dog found and, being a 6 year old Labrador retriever, he ate the meat. Only for the dog's owner, Martha Redding, to throw away the meat and discover it was full of 3-inch pins. Milo the dog ate 31 pins, and his vet fed him three cans of dog food and induced vomiting to get rid of them. Luckily, the vomiting was successful and Milo is pin-free. The Central Park Conservancy emailed dog walkers to warn them about suspcicious packages. The ASPCA's Special Agent Joseph Pentangelo says they are investigating the matter: "It certainly is a crime. No reasonable person could commit an act like this and think it wouldn't be harmful to an animal... I've heard about chemical poisoning - people who are annoyed about cat colonies in their area or people getting tired about dogs urinating in front of their houses. I've never seen anything like this." Redding says that the incident "reminds me of all those thriller movies of serial killers who start by hurting animals."
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We've heard of 'roid rage and road rage, but who knew there was a rooster rage (outside of a farm, at least). The ASPCA responded to a call about a headless rooster on the fire escape of an Inwood apartment building, and found out that 52 year old Humberto Rodriguez had bit his pet rooster's head and broke its wings. Rodriguez said he got mad because the rooster attacked his pet baby pigeons. OF COURSE that's why you'd bite a rooster's head - because different kinds of fowl love coexisting in the same apartment. Rodriguez was arrested and could face jail time. And in case you were wondering, yes, it is illegal to keep a rooster in your apartment (pet pigeons, we're not so sure). more ›

Easter is almost here, which means that the Easter Bunny is almost here - as well as thoughts, "Hey, maybe I should get a bunny." The ASPCA strongly recommends that people buy chocolate bunnies instead of real live ones, because they don't realize what it makes to care for a rabbit and then end up leaving a bunny at a shelter (if people really think they are capable of owning a bunny, they should read this and consider adopting a rescue bunny). Gothamist wholeheartedly endorses the idea of buying chocolate bunnies - just last night, we found ourselves eating some ridiculously delicious chocolate truffle Easter bunnies from Williams-Sonoma (we got them as a gift and can't find them online, sadly) - and we will get our bunny fix by watching the Brooklyn Bunny webcam and looking at photos tagged "bunny" on Flickr. And if you don't like chocolate, there are always bunny Peeps to go along with Peeps chicks as well as a Pat the Bunny book and plush. more ›

- The Staten Island Ferry assistant captain who piloted the ferry that crashed into the pier, killing 11 and injuring over 70, was sentenced to 18 months more ›

Given that Jake appears to be an expert over there, what advice can you give about cat grooming? I have a long-haired tabby who's suffering in the heat - can I give him a lion cut just to make him cooler, or will it traumatize more than relieve him? Is it expensive? Can any pet groomer do it, or are there cat specialists? Are there other styles? Does this officially make me a freak pet owner? more ›

This news is distressing, because as many people know, there are signs that animal cruelty can escalate into or accompany violence against humans. Here's a Humane Society note linking serial killers with animal abuse. And Gothamist on a cat cruelty arrest two months ago in Brooklyn. more ›