TOWN OF SALINA -- The story of a three-year-old pitbull found chained outside of a Utica bar has raised many questions about animal cruelty investigations.
Dealing with those types of cases differs from county to county. For instance, Oneida County -- where Apollo was found -- does not have a designated animal cruelty investigator. Instead, police handle the call. It's the same way in other counties, too. Paul Morgan, Executive Director of the CNY SPCA, said he is aware of this problem. As an animal cruelty investigator, he is often called to other counties when help is needed.
"We've assisted the Sheriff's Department in Madison County, State Police in Madison County," he said. "I've been to Oswego, I've been to Cayuga, you name it."
Counties with animal cruelty investigators also have noticeable differences. For instance, Tompkins County has two investigators that work out of the SPCA. Wayne County has three, but they work out of the District Attorney's office. Morgan said it doesn't necessarily matter where they work as long as they're in place. He said dealing with these types of cases can be a little different than normal police work.
"You're not dealing with humans, you're dealing with an animal. A living, breathing thing that cannot talk to you," he said "That dog can't look at you and tell you who did this to him, so it makes it a little more difficult."
Morgan said over the course of his 11 year career he has seen it all.
"I've had animals that have been stabbed to death, I've had animals with their limbs cut off that have come into this facility -- it's aggravating -- but in this type of work you have to block that out, you have to stay focused, go by what the law says. You don't want to go in there and do something stupid," he said.
Morgan investigated the shooting of Brownie the Shepherd just after Thanksgiving. The dog is still recovering from emergency surgery. Morgan said he has become numb to a lot of these instances, but said he takes joy in removing animals from bad situations and turning them into positive ones. Morgan said his ability to help animals, along with his co-workers, comes from generous community support. The CNY SPCA budget is about $781,000 Morgan said -- $60,000 of which comes from the county. He said the rest comes from donations. For more information on how you can donate, click here.
