NYS Animal Control Association

WEST HAVERSTRAW - Rabbits with various infections jammed into crates, unable to move their heads while sitting in their own feces. Water bowls for rabbits and dozens of other animals that were either empty or tainted with algae and feces.

Rams and goats with overgrown hooves living in cramped quarters. Birds, ducks and chickens in cages.
Those are among the scenes described by authorities yesterday at 48 N. Wayne Ave., a 1-acre, fenced-in property in a residential neighborhood.
Authorities estimated 300 animals - including rabbits, puppies, kittens, sheep, rams, pigeons, ducks and other water fowl - lived in atrocious conditions in one of the two houses and sheds on the grounds.
Robert Everle, 58, was charged with two counts of failing to provide sustenance to animals, a misdemeanor. Everle yesterday denied the charges, saying the animals were his pets and were well-treated.
"I would describe it as the zoo from hell, a petting zoo out of control," prosecutor Anthony Dellicarri said during a news conference at the state police barracks in Haverstraw.
"When the wind shifted, it's one of the worse smells I have ever experienced," Dellicarri said. "I have been in rooms with decomposing bodies. This is much worse."
State police and prosecutors arrested Everle on Tuesday on the charges under state Agriculture and Markets Law. The investigation is continuing, as more than a dozen animals have been removed from the property.
Everle has been released without bail for a Haverstraw Justice Court hearing on Aug. 18.
Sitting in his front yard yesterday, Everle denied being cruel to animals. He denied the animals were part of any business.
"I've been doing this for 47 years," said Everle, a retired heavy-construction worker.
"This is not a nickel-and-dime operation," Everle said. "I spend a lot of money on food. I spend a lot of money on medication. I spend a lot of money on books to learn about animals."
Yesterday at his house, dozens of chickens were in cages, with several walking on the property. Cackles echoed in the quiet neighborhood.
Droppings from birds and rabbits accumulated below the wire mesh cages. Everle said he dried the droppings for fertilizer and shared the pellets with his neighbors.
Investigators for the state police and the Hudson Valley Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said they took away 18 of the sickest animals.
Everle disagreed with the seizures. "They took six rabbits because they had little ear mites, which have been treated," Everle said. "They took a sheep. They said he was sick. He was the healthiest one here."
"Bull," a ram, didn't bother anybody, Everle said, adding, "He was a pet. These are all pets.
"These water bowls are empty because rabbits drink water at night," Everle said. "If I give them water now, they're not going to touch it."
State police and the humane society said they first inspected Everle's property about two weeks ago with a search warrant after receiving a complaint.
State police Investigators Wilfredo Garcia and Patrick Beyea yesterday showed training books on animal fighting found in the Everle house. They said a rooster skeleton was kept in one cage, and noted that during cockfight training a carcass is used to excite the other roosters.
Authorities said they filed two charges against Everle to get the case into court and gain some foothold to remove some of the animals.
One result, they said, was that Haverstraw Justice John K. Grant allowed authorities to enter Everle's property without a warrant to check on the animals.
The animals removed from the property were taken to a Chestnut Ridge veterinarian, said Marc Kissel, head of the Hudson Valley Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Kissel said it's difficult to place all the animals, considering the lack of venues. For example, some of the ailing birds could spread disease, he said.
"We have sick and diseased animals," Kissel said. "There are hundreds of animals that need care."
Everle's animals had drawn the attention of some neighbors.
Ed Sepinski, 90, who lives next door, said he put up with Everle and his animals for 40 years. He filed a complaint with the West Haverstraw small claims court against Everle seeking $550 for destruction of his garden.
"His chickens and rabbits eat my vegetables and my flowers," Sepinski said.
The court case was supposed to be heard on Tuesday, but it was postponed because of Everle's arrest.
"This is a residential area," Sepinski said. "He's not supposed to do that."
West Haverstraw Mayor John Ramundo said yesterday that the building inspector referred the case to the Rockland Health Department. Ramundo said the Everle property apparently is grandfathered to allow animals.
"The fact that he was grandfathered doesn't mean he can have a Catskill Game Farm," Ramundo said. "This has been going on for some time. We have to do what's right."
Juan Llano, 21, said he felt sorry for Everle, who inherited the property when his mother died.
Llano, whose mother lives next door to Everle, said he had lived in the=2 0neighborhood for several years until he moved to Brooklyn three months ago. He thought Everle was doing whatever he could do to accommodate his neighbors' complaints.
"I think that's unfair," Llano said of Everle's arrest. "To me, it doesn't make sense.
"They are not really noisy. They don't bother me at all," Llano said of the animals.
Reach Steve Lieberman at slieberm@lohud.com or at 845-578-2443.

By John Sullivan
Times Herald-Record
July 22, 2008

GOSHEN — Animal control officials are worried about the whereabouts of a dog that bit its owner's thumb off over the weekend.
Christopher Gambale, the owner of the dog, kept his Cane Corso Mastiff "Diesel" muzzled and tied to a leash whenever he came to visit Pamela Leavy's20Stack Road residence on weekends. Assurances that the dog was safe evaporated Saturday night, when Gambale removed the muzzle to offer Diesel a treat and the dog lunged at him, chomping his thumb off in the process.
Leavy's family then spent a harrowing 14 hours with the crazed animal trapped in their garage, as Gambale remained incapacitated in the hospital. In the end, a stranger unknown to either police or the family took the animal away, the family and police said, creating even more concerns about the dog.

Handling dangerous pets
The odd case highlights holes in the regulation of dangerous pets, as well as provided a warning to those who allow them to be around, said local animal-control officials. "This kind of shows you the irresponsibility of owners of animals that are dangerous or are raised to be the way they are," said Suzyn Barron, an animal control officer for the Warwick Valley Humane Society, which assisted in the call.
The nightmare for the Leavy family started after the ambulance whisked Gambale to the Arden Hill Campus of Orange Regional Medical Center. He was later taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where he underwent surgery to reattach his left thumb.
Goshen's town dog warden was on vacation, and no one was around to stand in. Leavy asked police to take the dog, but police officials said there was no place for the animal at their station, and that it seemed secured at Leavy's.
That left Leavy on her own when the dog threatened to break free, she said. She got the dog into her garage, using her van to push the portable basketball net it was tied to, then shut the door, she said.

Safety vs owner's rights
Calls to the Goshen Humane Society, as well as other area shelters and veterinary hospitals turned out to be futile, Leavy said. "I was screaming, 'You've got to get this dog out of here, I've got kids,'" she said.
Leavy said she was told by the shelters that they did not have the authority to take custody of the dog.
Barron, however, said such situations are not unusual.
After Leavy's phone calls, an unidentified person showed up at the house to pick up the dog.
The law gives owners of pets full rights over their dogs, including the right to spare or euthanize the animal if it has attacked them. It gives little guidance as to what to do with a dangerous pet if the owner is incapacitated, she said.
As of Sunday evening, neither Leavy nor police still had any knowledge of who removed the animal from Leavy's home. Gambale's girlfriend, who was staying at Leavy's Sunday, said she knew of no arrangements by her boyfriend to have the dog picked up.
jsullivan@th-record.com