Two Monticello residents face felony charges after investigators say a pit bull mix named Peru was found buried in a shallow grave in the Town of Bethel.
Ryan M. Mann, 25, and Virginia A. Sanders, 30, were arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated animal cruelty, tampering with evidence and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a minor, News 12 Hudson Valley reported.
What Deputies Found
Child Protective Services contacted the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office on Nov. 5 with information that a dog had been stabbed to death. Deputies went the next day to a home on Airport Road in Bethel and found the dog's body in a shallow grave.
A necropsy identified Peru as a pit bull mix. Investigators said the dog had been stabbed several times in the neck with a barbecue grill fork. The necropsy also found that Peru died from asphyxiation.
Court And The Felony Charge
Mann and Sanders were arraigned in Thompson Town Court, released under New York's bail laws and are awaiting a future court appearance.
Under Agriculture and Markets Law § 353-a, aggravated cruelty to animals is a felony. Sullivan County Sheriff Mike Schiff said deputies have specialized training and work closely with the district attorney's office to prosecute animal-cruelty cases.
A Separate Sullivan County Case
The Bethel investigation is distinct from an earlier county case. The Times Herald-Record reported that deputies were called Jan. 22 to a residence on Sunrise Trail in Wurtsboro, where two dogs were found without food or water.
Linda Ann Kennedy, 55, and her brother John Kennedy, 54, were arrested and charged with felony aggravated animal cruelty. Those dogs were surrendered and later adopted by a Sullivan County family through the Catskill Animal Rescue Shelter in Ferndale.
Mann and Sanders remain released while they wait for their next date in Thompson Town Court.
