Dog lives matter

[Lee Chowaniec]

Lancaster woman accused of abusing dogs pleads not guilty, held on bail

https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news...-held-on-bail/

LANCASTER, N.Y. (WIVB) — The woman accused of holding several dogs in her home and abusing one of them was arraigned Thursday night in Lancaster town court.
Andrea White pleaded not guilty to both injuring and torturing an animal and felony grand larceny.

A judge set bail at $2,500 due to White failing to appear to several past court appearances for other unregistered dog cases.

[gorja]

I just couldn't stand it anymore. I had to call Lancaster dog control about a neighbor on the side street. There's one backyard between my yard and their backyard.
In this heat, those dogs are outside all day. When Icalled, I didn't see the German Shepherd out. I went back out and made some noise and he got up from laying down on their back porch.
They have a fenced in yard and the poor little dog in on a rope.

I don't know if they have water out there or not but even if they do, it's just too damn hot to beout there all day.

I saw dog control come and the dogs went in the house, thankfully.

[Lee Chowaniec]

Local animal lovers galvanize over plight of allegedly stolen and abused dog
Buffalo News

A recent case of alleged property theft and animal cruelty galvanized a 9-year-old Cheektowaga boy to raise $750 on behalf of a female mixed-breed terrier named Nyxxi.

The boy, Jaxson Kross, was initially inspired after hearing of the dog's plight through his mom, Christy Miskell, who followed the case on Facebook. Miskell said she, Jaxson and other local animal lovers are vowing to show up on Sept. 22 in Lancaster Town Court for the case against 47-year-old Andrea White of Lancaster, who is accused of having stolen the dog. Nyxxi was found at White's property on Aug. 17.

"My son and I will definitely be at the next court case," Miskell said in an email sent to The Buffalo News on Tuesday.

White was arraigned on Thursday and charged with fourth-degree larceny, a felony; overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; and failure to provide proper sustenance, a misdemeanor, according to Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn.

Flynn said the case will be prosecuted by his office, with assistant district attorneys Christine M. Garvey of the Animal Cruelty Unit and Ryan A. Emmerling of the Justice Courts Bureau taking the lead.

According to the DA's report, Nyxxi's owner reportedly hired White on July 18 to board his dog at White's residence on East Home Road in Lancaster until Aug. 1.

When the owner went to retrieve Nyxxi at the end of her stay, White reportedly refused to release the dog, which was valued at $1,300, according to the DA's Office. The owner tried to retrieve Nyxxi again four days later but was told by White that his terrier had escaped during a minor car crash White experienced in Orchard Park, the report claimed.

The owner then contacted Lancaster police, who executed a search warrant on White's property and found nine dogs, including Nyxxi and five others that were seized. The DA's Office said Nyxxi was treated by an emergency veterinarian for a fractured and dislocated left front paw, a neck laceration, and missing teeth. "So, I started following the story through Facebook when Nyxxi was supposedly missing in a 'car accident,' " Miskell said Tuesday.

She said her son, Jaxson, heard his mother talking about the mistreatment of the dog, allegedly at the hands of White, and asked for permission to open a lemonade stand to raise money for Nyxxi. "My 9-year-old son, Jaxson, asked if he could donate money to help the dog and actually asked if he could do a lemonade stand," said Miskell.

She said they went shopping and Jaxson picked out the supplies for the lemonade, along with some iced tea, cookies, and chips. "He also got to meet Nyxxi. Since then, I’ve been very involved in the case to stand against people that abuse and torture animals," Miskell added.
According to the DA's office, the charges against White are related to only to Nyxxi. There are no charges related to the five other dogs that were seized.

Comment

One cannot but ask why this situation got this far when this individual was cited numerous times for myriad complaints, failed to show for numerous court appearances, had no special use permit to operate a business, housed nine dogs when only are three are permitted.

The dog’s owner claims he had vetted the individual he handed his dog over for boarding. Seriously?

It will be interesting to see where this story goes!

[Lee Chowaniec]

Dog Control Status

At Monday night’s town board meeting there were no dog shelter resolutions on the agenda. Town Board Dog Control Committee Report by Chair Mark Burkard: “The fence is up. So hopefully soon we will get the final inspection and be fully open.”

At the last town board meeting we were informed the new dog shelter construction project (and associated costs) would be closed out – as we have been hearing for the past few months. Once again, no resolution was on the agenda. It appears all the tasks assigned for completion have been performed but no mention of the Change Order associated cost of $9,252 to complete assigned tasks. Why the hold up in closing the shelter project out?

What did Burkard mean by final inspection and fully open? The new shelter has been in operation and an ‘occupancy permit’ has been administered. Currently six dogs seized from Andrea White are being kenneled – 4 in the new shelter and two in the shed.

Unfortunately, no mention of:

Staffing Status

The recent resignation of two Assistant Dog Control Officers (DCO’s). Current staffing – 2 full time DCO’s, 1 Assistant DCO @ 5 hrs. / week, 1 Assistant DCO on kennel duty. At present no weekend coverage assigned. Who will administer to the dog needs this weekend. The DCO is having problems keeping and hiring staff at $16 / hr. and especially in filling shifts over the weekend. The number of aggressive dogs and dog bites have significantly increased over the past few years.

Fencing Addition & Other

Is this where the final inspection is required? If so, it is not in the district of town code enforcement. There are openings large enough to allow a small dog to escape and need correction. Ag & Markets?

Crickets on the status of lot paving and addition of ancillary structure for handling sick dogs.

No mention of a dog census taking place – one that was promised several years ago; years before Covid.

Complaint / Regulation / Violation Administration Mismanagement

No mention or status of the Andrea White theft / animal cruelty incident. Nine dogs were seized, three were returned to the owner and six are being housed in the Lancaster dog shelter. The cost for sheltering a dog is $10 per day, plus any vet bills incurred.

This Lancaster illegal, abusive operation should have been shut down long before the current situation occurred as numerous complaints were filed in the past several years for myriad reasons:

29 court appearance tickets had been issued to Ms. White for unlicensed dogs, dangerous dogs / dog bites, and for over the Town Code limit of three dogs. White does not show up for court dates and the tickets get placed in a court file with no further follow up. No bench warrant issued, no consequences until recent charges against White became public.

The Building Department had been notified of Ms. White’s running of an illegal dog daycare – no Home Occupation ‘Special Use Permit’ and yet it continued to operate until recently charged for dog theft and dog abuse. The operation was openly publicized on Facebook.

This incident has drawn social media attention and the ire of pet owners who look to municipal and private shelters to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the public, DCO staff, and the dogs housed. People in Lancaster and elsewhere need to know why this illegal operation continued to exist for the time it did, the results of the September 22nd court hearing, and the fate of Nyxxi.

[gorja]

Originally posted by Lee Chowaniec:
29 court appearance tickets had been issued to Ms. White for unlicensed dogs, dangerous dogs / dog bites, and for over the Town Code limit of three dogs. White does not show up for court dates and the tickets get placed in a court file with no further follow up. No bench warrant issued, no consequences until recent charges against White became public.

Who's responsible for that? The town justices?

[Lee Chowaniec]

Who's responsible for that? The town justices?

Where else is justice served but at the courts. Doesn't the buck stop there?

[gorja]

Where else is justice served but at the courts. Doesn't the buck stop there?

It sure would seem that way. I just don't know the logistics of the court system. I didn't know if the police had to initiate a warrant or the court themselves iniated the warrant.
I didn't want to falsely accuse

[dmckay716]

It’s incomprehensible how borderline incompetent our elected officials along both parties have handled this project.

[Lee Chowaniec]

It sure would seem that way. I just don't know the logistics of the court system. I didn't know if the police had to initiate a warrant or the court themselves iniated the warrant.
I didn't want to falsely accuse

No one is accusing anyone of anything. The focus is on trying to understand why 29 court appearance tickets over a period of time were ignored by the court and did not precipitate a bench warrant for disposition that may have prevented the incident at hand.

If court appearance tickets of such number were issued for a human violation and ignored by the offender, would a bench warrant not be issued? Dog lives do matter!

My understanding (hearsay) is that the warrant you are referring to was requested by the police and requested to the other sitting town judge.

[Lee Chowaniec]

Sharing a Facebook post I just received from a Ginger Pagano who has given me permission to post on Speakup. Pagano is the VP of a rescue shelter.

I cannot keep quiet another day. To all who have been following the case of Nyxii in Lancaster, there is way more to this then just her.

This has been on going with Andrea White. Lancaster Animal Control has tried to shut her down numerous times with no avail. Do you want this woman in your community, I do not think so.

Numerous appearance tickets were issued to her, no bench warrant was issued. Is this right? Now everyone is trying to cover their asses, except Lancaster dog Control. They did everything to try to stop this.

If it would have been acknowledged by the higher ups in the Town of Lancaster, guarantee Nyxxi would not have been injured. THIS IS EXTREME ANIMAL CRUELTY, especially to the 6 dogs seized and 2 still with her. Now is the time to make a change.

I'd like to have as many people as possible come together on Sept 22 for the court hearing. Please inbox me privately for information. *

Support the hardworking, under paid, dangerous job, Lancaster dog control. I'll be posting pics soon of the seized dogs. And more of my concerns.


*I do not have a Facebook account and therefore unable to provide Pagano’s Facebook address.

[gorja]

Here's an Andrea Whiote post from August 2nd -

[gorja]

Here's an Andrea Whiote post from August 2nd -

Sorry for the typo- should be White not Whiote. Too late to edit

[Lee Chowaniec]

Ginger Pagano – Facebook post

Action Needed! The situation with Andrea White has been ongoing for years, with no action from the Town of Lancaster, despite their full knowledge. We need to let the Town of Lancaster and their judge know that Western New York is watching, and we will not tolerate their failure to charge, and convict repeat criminals and abusers of animals.

This has been a long-term problem in Lancaster that has been swept under the rug and ignored. It will only continue unless Western New Yorkers demand action and accountability. Please take a few minutes to write a brief, polite, but strong letter to the Town of Lancaster. We recommend copying everyone on the list below to ensure that our letters are not ignored, dismissed, or deleted and no one can say they were not aware of our concerns. Here is an example of what you might include in your letter.

Dear Town of Lancaster official:

I am very concerned about the ongoing situation regarding Andrea White and her activities that prey on the good people of our community and threaten the safety of our pets. This never should have happened, and I am aware that there is a history of this criminal activity that has been ignored by the town of Lancaster. I demand that our officials send a strong message to Andrea White and others like her, that Lancaster will not tolerate animal abuse and illegal activities that prey on our citizens. All of Western New York has eyes on the Town of Lancaster and the outcome of this case.

Here are the emails of the people we suggest you copy your e-mail to:

Town Board

rruffino@lancasterny.gov – Town Supervisor

mburkard@lancasterny.gov

rleary@lancaster.gov

adickman@lancaster.gov

dmazur@lancaster.gov

jkarn@lancasterny.gov – DCO

jcolby@lancasterny.gov – Town Justice

[gorja]

Ginger Pagano – Facebook post

Action Needed! The situation with Andrea White has been ongoing for years, with no action from the Town of Lancaster, despite their full knowledge. We need to let the Town of Lancaster and their judge know that Western New York is watching, and we will not tolerate their failure to charge, and convict repeat criminals and abusers of animals.

This has been a long-term problem in Lancaster that has been swept under the rug and ignored. It will only continue unless Western New Yorkers demand action and accountability. Please take a few minutes to write a brief, polite, but strong letter to the Town of Lancaster. We recommend copying everyone on the list below to ensure that our letters are not ignored, dismissed, or deleted and no one can say they were not aware of our concerns. Here is an example of what you might include in your letter.

Dear Town of Lancaster official:

I am very concerned about the ongoing situation regarding Andrea White and her activities that prey on the good people of our community and threaten the safety of our pets. This never should have happened, and I am aware that there is a history of this criminal activity that has been ignored by the town of Lancaster. I demand that our officials send a strong message to Andrea White and others like her, that Lancaster will not tolerate animal abuse and illegal activities that prey on our citizens. All of Western New York has eyes on the Town of Lancaster and the outcome of this case.

Here are the emails of the people we suggest you copy your e-mail to:

Town Board

rruffino@lancasterny.gov – Town Supervisor

mburkard@lancasterny.gov

rleary@lancaster.gov

adickman@lancaster.gov

dmazur@lancaster.gov

jkarn@lancasterny.gov – DCO

jcolby@lancasterny.gov – Town Justice

Is there a reason only one justice is on the list?

[Lee Chowaniec]

Is there a reason only one justice is on the list?

The dog control department complaint / court appearance tickets are under the jurisdiction of but one Town Justice.

Shouldn't you be asking why the police went to the other Town Justice to get the Andrea White warrant?

Don't you find it difficult to understand why no mention has been paid to the efforts of the dog control department in seizing the six dogs (one extremely aggressive) and their care in their continued sheltering. What little attention has been paid to the dog control department who issued 29 court appearance tickets and whose pleas made to departments and individuals alike to shut the illegal operation down were of no avail.

This outcome could have been prevented and policies should be set in place to ensure it never happens again.