Published: December 28, 2006 01:05 am      

TOPS IN 06: No. 4, Pets Plus charged with animal cruelty

By Tasha Kates

katest@gnnewspaper.com

— THE STORY: It started with a complaint about some illegal exotic reptiles being kept at Pets Plus on West Avenue.

Representatives of the Department of Environmental Conservation looked into those claims on July 9. According to court documents, the temporary Erie County SPCA employee saw Burmese pythons, a reticulated python and two crocodile monitors in dirty cages.

The DEC then contacted the Niagara County SPCA to see if they could inspect the store, but the agency deferred to the Erie County SPCA because the local group could not take in a large number of reptiles.

Erie County SPCA wildlife administrator Joel Thomas visited the store two days later, spending six hours inspecting the animals. In a supporting deposition, he stated he saw many animals “exhibiting signs of neglect,” such as infections, emaciation and sores. He, too, found dirty cages with little or no water.

The store’s owners denied they had neglected any animals and, given the large number under his care, that some were sick at the time of the inspection was only natural.

A few hundred reptiles and amphibians from Pets Plus were shuttled to the SPCA’s Town of Tonawanda branch, where some died in the ensuing days. Other creatures were “red-tagged” to stay in place at the store. Pets Plus co-owner Fred Kick said the creatures deemed illegal were incorrectly targeted because the store keeps them for sale and not as pets.

A talker of a story that made regional headlines, the alleged endangered animals and a brash defense attorney made it an easy choice for the top 10 of 2006.

— IN COURT: Pets Plus was charged July 28 with 36 counts of animal cruelty, a Class-A misdemeanor. Each count represented an animal in need of immediate veterinary care.

The case moved on to Lockport City Court, where Pets Plus Attorney George V.C. Muscato refused to pay a bond for the care of the seized animals unless the SPCA was willing to let them visit the creatures with an expert to estimate the costs.

Two weeks later, the case ended in a settlement. The deal dismissed the animal cruelty charges against the pet store as long as its corporate entity wasn’t charged with anything else in the following six months. Pets Plus had to give up 72 of the seized animals but would receive another 87 of them back. The store was ordered to pay $1,350 for the care of the creatures and undergo quarterly inspections for the next three years.

SPCA counsel Becky Powell said the organization saw the settlement as a win for the animals. Pets Plus co-owner Fred Kick and Muscato saw it as a victory for the store, stating if the store was that bad then why wouldn’t the Niagara County District Attorney’s Office prosecute them further.

Kick proclaimed victory on a sign outside his store the day after the deal was reached, reading, “We won! All charges dropped.”

— CHECK-UPS: Pets Plus underwent its first quarterly inspection in early November. Niagara County SPCA executive director Albert Chille said he was taken through all areas of the building and didn’t find any evidence of wrongdoing. Chille will return to the store around early February for another inspection.

Kick said the store’s business is coming back slowly. He is still discussing the possibility of a lawsuit with Muscato.

Contact Tasha Kates at 439-9222, Ext. 6241.