The Daily News’ Amy Sachs covers the latest hearing regarding the Bronx dog fighting case. At the center of it all, United Action for Animals. See below, or click here…
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Earning a few thousand dollars is no simple task for many Americans in this dour economy. But now the opportunity is up for grabs for New Yorkers who help crack down on animal cruelty.
A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered by the Humane Society of the United States for any tip that leads to the conviction of people involved in illegal dogfighting or cockfighting.
“New Yorkers should have no tolerance for the cruel treatment of man’s best friends,” said Patrick Kwan, New York state director for the Humane Society.
New York has one of the worst animal fighting laws, ranking 48th in the country. While dogfighting and cockfighting are felonies in New York, possessing animals for the purpose of fighting is only a misdemeanor, and attending an animal fight is a misdemeanor punishable by little more than a slap on the wrist.
New York’s lenient laws also attract spectators from other states that have more severe punishments, such as New Jersey, which has the stiffest animal cruelty laws in the country.
But that may be about to change.
Last week, the state Senate’s Agriculture Committee unanimously passed a bill that would toughen the animal fighting laws by making it a felony to possess animals for the purpose of fighting and attend an animal fight.
Still, if passed, the law will not come early enough for some offenders to do time.
In late April, no arrests were made after 33 roosters were rescued by NYPD and NYC Animal Care & Control from a cockfighting operation in the basement of a Bronx apartment building on Hoffman St., in Belmont. Three of the four injured birds had to be euthanized, and others have been relocated to various animal sanctuaries.
The lack of punishment infuriated many animal advocates.
“New Yorkers want these criminals punished to the max for these heinous crimes and to rid animal fighting out of our great city,” said Jennifer Panton, who runs United Action for Animals (www.ua4a.org).
The nonprofit group launched the Anti-Animal Fighting Campaign last summer after 16 pit bulls and two roosters were rescued by NYPD and NYC Animal Care & Control from the backyard of a building in Tremont in the Bronx.
One of the dogs died on the way to a shelter and several others had to be put down. Some, like Diana, a beautiful pit bull, have found a new home, while others in foster homes wait to be adopted.
The suspected ringleader, Alexander Estephane, 44, lives at the Tremont building, where neighbors reportedly knew of the brutality, but did not came forward.
Estephane and two others were charged with felonies for dogfighting, but two men were charged only with misdemeanors for being spectators. Another suspect walked away free and clear.
The case is expected to go to trial in the Bronx Supreme Court next month.
Panton hopes her group’s campaign will incite the same public backlash that helped convict former NFL star Michael Vick for running a dogfighting operation.
“It is time for animal abusers to be viewed as the terrorists that they are,” she said.
For details on the Humane Society of the United States’ reward program, call (202) 452-1100, or go to www.hsus.org.
It’s about time we make these monsters accountable!