A former Lieutenant in the NYPD has been named Director of theSPCA of Westchester's Humane Law Enforcement Division.

Shannon Laukhuf, Executive Director of the SPCA of Westchester says Ernest Lungaro of Pleasantville comes to the job with more than 20 years of criminal investigation experience,"Ernest Lungaro's outstanding law enforcement expertise will help take our Humane Law Enforcement Divison to a new level in intervening and prosecuting individuals who are harming or killing animals."

His main responsibility according to the organization is to "protect animals from Westchester from cruelty and neglect" through "aggressive enforcement of New York State law."

The SPCA of Westchester receives calls reporting neglect and abuse that range from animals living in unsanitary conditions or being left out in the cold without no shelter, to cases of dogs and cats being intentionally starved or abused resulting in injury or death.

The Humane Law Enforcement Division responds to calls placed to the SPCA of Westchester's hotline, (914)941-7797. 

A Yonkers man has been sentenced to 15 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to intentionally slashing his neighbor's four-year-old German Shepherd dog, causing her to lose an eye.

On April 5, 2010, 59 year old Andrew Owens of 715 Nepperhan Avenue slashed the dog, Jenna, causing a long laceration to the right side of the dog's face and her right eye. The animal's eye had to be removed.

A Yonkers man who claimed that his neighbor's dog was "racist," has pleaded guilty to slashing the dog. 58 year old Andrew Owens used a knife to attack the four year old German Shepherd named Jenna near his home on Nepperhan Avenue in April. He had told investigators that he had "had enough" of the "racist dog," who he says barked incessantly at him. Owens claimed the dog barked at him because he was black. The dog lost her right eye due to the ordeal.
The SPCA, which investigated the case, claims the attack was unprovoked.

The brutal heatwave has claimed its first victim. The Westchester SPCA says a dog has died of heatstroke after its owner apparently left it in a scorchingly hot car at FDR State Park in Yorktown on Monday.

A Yorktown man was sentenced today to a year in prison for the brutal killing of his ex-girlfriend's dog in April 2009. 21 year old Jonathan King admitted he snuck into the home of Steven Levine, while the family was away, and yanked the dog by its collar so hard its spine was severed. The Levine family found the dog, Libra, a Yorkshire terrier mix, the next day behind a clothes dryer. King pleaded guilty in March to aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony.

Jonathan King stood silent as the family of Steven Levine, who owned the dog, a Yorkshire terrier mix named Libra, read a statement detailing their sadness at the loss of their beloved pet. He made no comment and offered no apology.

He was prosecuted under the 1999 law known as "Buster's Law" which makes it a felony to kill animal, an offense that's punishable by up to two years in jail. King received one year due to his plea bargain agreement.  In addition to the jailtime, King will pay $1500 in restitution to cover the cost of his extradition after he fled to Miami. An order of protection was also issued barring King from having contact with the Levine family for the next ten years.

A Yonkers man has been arrested on felony animal cruelty charges after allegedly slashing his neighbor's dog across the face, causing the animal to lose its eye. Detective Ken Ross III, with the Westchester SPCA, says the incident took place about 7 p.m. Monday night in Yonkers outside Valley Oil at 707 Nepperhan Avenue as the animal was tethered outside.