Heinous Acts of Animal Cruelty Have DA, SPCA Asking Albany for Help
“Drug addicts potentially face longer prison sentences. This is wrong.”
The Scoop New York is a newsletter dedicated to companion animals and the New Yorkers who care for them, from Buffalo to Brooklyn. NYC ACC KILLS, published by TSNY, enumerates and memorializes adoptable cats and dogs who were nonetheless exterminated by Animal Care Centers of New York City.
Editor's note: Unfortunately, cruelty to animals is a foundational component of the companion animal news beat. Rather than report cruelty cases in isolation, The Scoop New York has established a database that will allow cruelty cases to be reviewed and reported in context. Case data may eventually be used, for example, to analyze the application of state and local cruelty laws, the success or failure of cruelty prosecutions, and the efficacy of New York's statutes as a preventative tool. If you would like to help TSNY with the cruelty case database and other projects, here's how.

A spate of animal cruelty cases in adjoining New York counties has prosecutors and a local SPCA calling on Albany to reform state cruelty laws.
Over the course of one week in March, authorities charged two people in Otsego County and one person in Delaware County with aggravated cruelty to animals.
On March 13, the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of Ashley H. Williams of Laurens, after authorities in February discovered five deceased dogs and four live dogs “in various states of emaciation” on property owned by Williams, AllOtsego reported.
The deceased dogs were partly cannibalized by the living dogs, Otsego Sheriff Richard Devlin Jr. said.
“It was horrific,” said Stacie Haynes, executive director of the Susquehanna Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is aiding the sheriff’s department with the case. Haynes described the carnage that prompted Williams’ arrest as “The worst situation I have been a part of.”
According to Haynes, officials suspected animals were suffering on Williams’ property but were initially able to do little about it.
“Sadly, this case is a great example of how our current laws restrict our ability to be proactive and save animals when we can clearly see their fate,” Haynes told AllOtsego. “Ms. Williams was on our radar because one of her dogs had come into our facility as an impound, and she had been questioned about a horse in her care. During both of these interactions we offered help, but it was refused.”
Authorities were later able to secure a warrant and rescue the live dogs. All four dogs saved from the property are recovering and will be available for adoption, according to multiple sources quoted by AllOtsego.
Williams was charged with four counts of aggravated cruelty to animals; nine counts of abandonment of animals; and nine counts of failure to provide sustenance to animals, according to AllOtsego (TSNY could not immediately obtain Williams’ court records). The latter two charges are misdemeanors. Aggravated cruelty to animals is a class E felony, New York’s least severe felony category. Penalties for aggravated cruelty range from two years in prison to no penalty at all.
Additional charges against Williams are pending, AllOtsego reported.
The helplessness reported by law enforcement and shelter personnel could be assuaged by multiple bills currently pending in the state legislature. One would establish a civil process for law enforcement to initiate animal forfeitures, making it easier to rescue animals from perilous environments; another bill would increase penalties for causing injury to a companion animal with a deadly weapon. Two additional bills would permit humane law enforcement officers to make arrests without relying on local police.
Also last month, Timothy R. Melius Jr., of Pittsfield, in Otsego County, was charged with child endangerment and aggravated animal cruelty after he allegedly killed a kitten with a baseball bat.
In neighboring Delaware County, 32-year-old James G. Lor of Margaretville was charged in March with aggravated animal cruelty after he allegedly killed a dog with a knife and attempted to cook the carcass "in order to consume it," according to The Daily Star. It was not immediately known whom the dog belonged to, the paper reported. Court records show Lor’s next court date as May 6.
While it’s not yet clear whether New York cruelty cases are actually on the rise this year, there are troubling signs. Troy Waffner, director of the Central New York SPCA in Syracuse, said the number of cruelty cases seen by the shelter doubled in 2023. While part of the increase in known incidents could be due to increased outreach by the shelter, Waffner told WSYR, “I think people are unfortunately taking their stress out on their animals.”
In a press release, Delaware County District Attorney Shawn Smith expressed frustration with the Lor case, and New York cruelty laws in general.
“Due to New York state laws, the defendant in this case [Lor] faces the lowest possible felony in New York with the maximum possible penalty being two years in jail,” Smith said. “Drug addicts potentially face longer prison sentences than Mr. Lor ever will if he is convicted. This is wrong.”