Since February, the longhaired beauties — known as Shelties — and one newborn puppy have been held as evidence in NYC’s Animal Care & Control shelters and foster homes pending a cruelty investigation against the elderly duo.
Earlier this week, owners Kolja Sustic, 64, and Pat Lim forfeited their right to the dogs, paving the way for their release.
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| Quincy, 1 and a half years old, was among 23 Shelties seized from Brooklyn hoarders. He's been at the AC&C shelter since February and will finally be available for adoption. |
“It’s been very stressful during this time worrying about the possibility of them being returned to the hoarder should we lose the case,” said Julie Canzoneri, the founder of Tri-State Sheltie Rescue, a nonprofit rescue group based on Long Island, which initiated the rescue.
On Friday, she began arranging for their transport to various Sheltie rescue groups. Once the shy, sweet dogs are treated and socialized, they can be placed for adoption.
More than a year ago, Canzoneri, 44, contacted several agencies to aid in the rescue, to no avail. Last year, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office heeded her call, and sent detectives out into the community to determine that there was a public health nuisance.
“The conditions were inhumane,” said Deputy District Attorney Dianne Malone, who heads the agency’s Animal Cruelty division.
In February, a judge issued a search warrant, and the malnourished and neglected dogs, ranging in age from 1 to 14, were seized. Rescuers found 13 dogs in the couple’s primary residence, a cluttered basement apartment on Bedford Ave., with junk piled up to the ceiling.
Ten more dogs were found living in cages in a boarded-up house on Avenue Y without light, heat or electricity amid junk piled up to the ceilings. The canines were infested with fleas.
This week, the couple pleaded guilty to a single count of abuse in exchange for agreeing to forfeit the animals, seek mental health treatment and not possess another animal.
Malone said that like many hoarders, the couple believed they were providing the best care for the dogs.
Meanwhile, Canzoneri has rescued more than 35 dogs from the couple, including Marina, a puppy that Sustic handed to her in a shopping bag.
“He tried to bribe me so I wouldn’t come back with a social worker,” she said, adding that she adopted the puppy into the pack of six Shelties that share her Malverne home.
In 2002, she and her husband, Tim, transported 10 Shelties from the same house. They left thinking that the ASPCA or other animal groups would rescue the remaining dogs. In 2010, she helped rescue 16 more.
“I was horrified to learn all those years, they were still trapped in that house in total darkness,” she said.
The Sheepshead Bay couple has been hoarding dogs since the 1990s, and rescuers believe more than 100 dogs may have lived under their roofs.
Dr. Brian Abraham, of Noah’s Ark Veterinary Practice, in Marine Park, Brooklyn, who treated the dogs from the previous rescue, will help treat the 23 Shelties, many of whom are in need of dental care.
The cost for sheltering and veterinary care at AC&C will be around $85,000, said operations manager Richard Gentles.
With patience, the traumatized dogs can be socialized and make wonderful family members, Canzoneri said.
“They need to see that the world isn’t such a scary place,” she said.
To inquire about adopting one of the dogs or to make a donation, go to www.tristatesheltierescue.org.
(NY Daily News - Aug 10, 2012)
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