Man charged with cruelty for failing to euthanize his dog

March 3, 2017 5:58 pm

By Alana Cerrone

acerrone@abc6.com

@Alana_Cerrone

When 18-year-old pitbull “X” was brought to the vet to be euthanized, his condition didn’t seem right. So the vet called the RISPCA.

Joe Warzycha, the RISPCA’s Animal Cruelty Officer, says X was skin and bones. "If I could give this dog a negative number, if such thing existed – it was that bad."

Owner Carlos Catano took X in as a stray when he was a puppy. He told the RISPCA that he didn’t want to let go. But that led to pain and suffering for his dog. And that is a felony.

"He’s being charged with unnecessary cruelty – he allowed this animal to be subjected to suffering and cruelty."

According to Catano, X’s health started to fail in the summer of 2016. He wasn’t gaining weight and his organs had likely started to fail.

But still Catano waited to put him down. "Yes I feel bad but I think we would be negligent in our duties here at the RISPCA to say ‘Carlos I feel bad for you we’ll let it slide…’"

The RISPCA sees this kind of neglect pretty often, and has to walk a fine line between advocating for animals and potentially scaring owners from doing the right thing.

"We don’t want to give people the message that if I bring my animal to a vet I run the possibility of being criminally charged with something."

Instead, the RISPCA says bring your animal to the vet when you first see signs of sickness or aging or take advantage of their free clinic.

"There are plenty of options and doing what Mr. Catano did is not an option."

X was ultimately euthanized, and if convicted, Catano could serve up to 5 years in jail. The charge is considered a felony after the so-called Moses Law passed.