SARATOGA, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The owner of a now closed Halfmoon doggie daycare and boarding facility is facing more animal cruelty charges after another court appearance Wednesday. The owner of a dog that died hours after being dropped off at A Time Four Paws was in court for Yvette Giovanni’s latest court appearance.
“You have that anxiety and a lot of anger,” said Katie Levy, Gus’ owner. Levy described to NEWS10’s Reporter James De La Fuente the first time she came face to face with the woman accused in the death of her beloved dog. She said the experience was, “Not pleasant. It was difficult sitting a few feet away from her. And it was very difficult.”
Katie dropped off her French Bulldog, Gus last month when the family had to take an unexpected trip. The family’s regular boarding options were not available at the time. Authorities say Giovanni had failed to get veterinary care for Gus who was having heatstroke. Since his death Katie said support for Gus has grown to try to prevent animal abuse, “I just hope the momentum keeps going forward because as we’ve seen recently, since Gus passed away, there are more places out there like this locally.”
Katie said the family was gifted a French Bulldog puppy and on Friday they are going to check out the three-week-old litter, “There is a lot of Gus in every Frenchie that’s out there. They have so many of the same characteristics and behaviors to one another that we miss that aspect of our life a lot. We are not looking to, we know it doesn’t replace him. But I think that it will bring those smiles and giggles back that we’ve been missing for the last few weeks.”
Court documents obtained by NEWS10 reveal that owner Giovanni, originally charged with 10 counts of animal abuse which included inadequate care of an animal resulting in death, criminal mischief and aggravated cruelty to animals. She now faces two more charges of animal cruelty from this week’s court appearance.
Attorney George LaMarche says the punishment could be lengthy, if convicted, “This is certainly a very emotional case for a lot of pet owners, advocates for pets, community members, and, you know, people who support healthy animals are really going to want to see punishment for her.” The attorney said Giovanni could see a max of up to seven years in jail.
Chairman of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors, Phil Barrett said the new animal abuse registry in the county is moving towards passage and that anyone convicted of animal abuse or neglect cannot adopt or buy an animal for 15 years. A second conviction leads to a lifetime ban. “The animal abuse registry was passed initially by our Public Safety Committee yesterday. It passed the Law and Finance Committee. So, the public hearing is set for September 10th, and I expect full passage the week after.” He went to explain that the offense for not complying with registry will be a criminal misdemeanor offense, “It’s a stiffer penalty and gives somebody more incentive. If they were thinking that maybe they wouldn’t decide to register as they should by the law. We believe that’ll preclude anybody from not registering as they’re supposed to.”
That penalty could be a fine of up to 250 dollars or 15 days in jail or both.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
