Arrest made in Plattsburgh puppy abandonment case
Michael Staley. Photo: Plattsburgh Police Department
The co-owner of the Northern Puppies pet store in Plattsburgh has been arrested on misdemeanor charges, after allegedly faking a burglary in an attempt to cover up the abandonment of two dozen very young puppies.
The animals were scattered in rural areas of Clinton County. Here’s the statement released today:
On this date, members of the Plattsburgh Police Department Detective Division arrested Michael D Staley (36) of Plattsburgh on 24 misdemeanor counts of Abandonment of Animals, in violation of NY Agriculture and Markets Law section 355.
Staley is currently being held at the Plattsburgh Police Department lock-up awaiting arraignment in Plattsburgh City Court.
On August 2nd, Staley allegedly removed 24 puppies from his wife’s business, Northern Puppies, and then abandoned them in remote locations across Clinton County. To date, 19 puppies have been recovered by Police and area volunteers.
I am glad they found the dogs.
Never buy from a pet store, we have great dogs and cats at our local SPCA shelters. We have gotten all of our dogs there and they have worked out very well.
There is a special place in hell for people like this. Thanks for all the good people who searched for and rescued these dogs.
The problem stretches back to the puppy mill breeders that sell these puppies to the pet stores. Don’t even get me started on the “exotic” animal business.
This guys hair is also a crime!
Why did he got to all this trouble? Isn’t it legal to just euthanize the animals in a humane way. Why would anyone just scatter the dogs and set themselves up to be found out? Weird.
That picture why I don’t grow a beard.
It’s just stupid hillbilly math. Gosh! We can sell these puppies for $400 each, so if we get a hundred of ’em, well have…………… anyhow, we’ll be rich!! I’ll call my cousin an see if he’s got any more.
If this man does not do jailtime there is seriously something wrong with our system. I have seen too many people get of with only probation. That makes our sin as bad as his!! How can people be so evil??
Anita, I think there is little chance that there will be any jail time involved for something like this. The proper way to deal with it is to shut them down. I can see the prison cell discussion now. “I am in for rape, what are you in for?”. “I let some puppies go in the woods”.
Jail time for animal abusers has become more common. This is in large part thanks to those people who care about animals and have pushed for tougher laws surrounding abuse, and in part because legal and social service professionals now recognize that there is a direct link between animal abusers and human violence… particularly domestic violence. It is often referred to as “the link”
dave is correct there is a link between animal abuse and domestic violence. What is sad is that human abuse through domestic violence rarely gets jail time, usually probation etc, so it is certainly doubtful that this sort of animal abandonment will get any jail time.
Animal abandonment is punishable by up to 1 year in prison (per count, I believe)
And there are recent abandonment/abuse cases that have resulted in jail time, so I wouldn’t be so sure this guy is going to walk away with just a slap on the wrist… especially given the circumstances and history here (this couple’s pet store is facing 20 other counts of animal cruelty charges related to an inspection back in July)
If it’s a first offense and all misdemeanor charges I’d bet against his doing jail time.
With all the abuses that have been linked to pet stores and for-profit animal breeding over the years, I think we need some stricter regulation of it that’s designed to reduce the number of breeders. Maybe it’s not fair to the responsible breeders, but on a larger scale they’re causing problems for society. We’re producing more dogs than we can find homes for, and too many of them come to a bad end. A lot of animal shelters won’t take any more animals because they’re already full, even with the ones they adopt or put down they don’t have enough space.
Marlo, I’d guess that the responsible breeders would be happy to see stricter regulation. If they are good regulations, the responsible breeders will already be on board.