SUFFOLK COUNTY (WCBS 880) – Arrests involving crimes against animals are rising in Suffolk County, and the SPCA says New York cruelty laws continue to be among the weakest in the U.S.
In 2018, the Suffolk County SPCA made more arrests — 66 people — than ever before, according to Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross.
“The amount of calls that are coming in and the cases we're investigating are unfortunately on the rise for some reason,” Gross said. “I don’t know why.”
“It’s all types of different allegations that are made. People either are purposely hurting their animals. We're finding cases of satanic animal rituals,” he said.
Gross said in recent weeks he’s seen five instances of people throwing kittens and dogs out of moving cars. And a woman was arrested this week for allegedly going to a park in the county to ritually sacrifice chickens.
Gross said he’s always pushing for lawmakers in New York to enact better animal cruelty laws. He says the state has some of the worst animal cruelty laws in the country.
“In my career of over 36 years, I only recall two instances of people that actually served two years in jail for animal cruelty. Only twice. So, the laws need to change,” Gross said.