~ Update: January 17, 2024
LAURO's mugshot added to the article.
LAURO's mugshot provided to Voice For Us by the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office.
In a press release, DA Tierney said that LAURO, of Riverhead, is accused of aggravated cruelty to animals and other related charges for fatally shooting two innocent and defenseless German Shepherds with a rifle.
The current investigation was launched on January 10, 2024, when a one-year-old German Shepherd named Blitzkrieg was taken to the VCA Westbury Veterinarian Hospital in Westbury. Blitzkrieg was found to be paralyzed from a gunshot wound to the head.
DA Tierney said that according to a witness, Blitzkrieg was found shot laying in a pen next to a dead goat on LAURO’s property on Sound Avenue.
Detectives with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office’s Biological, Environmental, and Animal Safety Team (BEAST) went to LAURO’s home to investigate the incident and learned that approximately a month prior, LAURO had also shot and killed another German Shepherd. The DA’s Office identified the furvictim as a 6-month-old puppy named Cranky.
According to the press release, LAURO first shot Cranky simply because the furbaby was “allegedly refusing to go back inside his house.” As stated in the release, “The allegations of that event were that Lauro had shot Cranky once in the back and then, when another resident took him back inside the house in an attempt to console and treat his wounds, Lauro dragged the dog back outside and shot him in the head.”
At LAURO’s home BEAST detectives found five surviving Belgian Malinois/Dutch Shepherd mix dogs, a Border Collie, two German Shepherds, and numerous other animals including chickens, cows, goats, and pigs.
On January 11, 2024, together with the Riverhead Police Department, BEAST detectives returned to LAURO’s home with a search warrant. Authorities discovered many other dead farm animals, including a baby goat and a pig. The DA’s Office said the “circumstances of their deaths are still being investigated.”
On the same day, LAURO was placed under arrest.
According to Erik C. Howard, Town of Riverhead Attorney, “Mr. Lauro is repeatedly the subject of various complaints to the Town regarding the condition of and activities at his Sound Avenue property. Responses to his property by Town Code Enforcement officials have revealed and led to prosecutions by the Riverhead Town Attorney’s Office for illegal animal sales, attempts to operate an illegal slaughterhouse, dilapidated and illegal structures, loose farm animals, and general property maintenance. The Riverhead Town Attorney’s Office applauds the Suffolk County District Attorney's prosecution of Mr. Lauro and is prepared to assist in any way necessary to secure a conviction for Mr. Lauro’s reprehensible conduct and wanton disregard for the life of a companion animal.”
The DA’s Office explained that Fund For Animal Cruelty Treatment of Suffolk (FACTS) is providing costs of care to the dogs and the Humane Long Island has been assisting the field operation by triaging farm animal victims to appropriate foster care.
John Di Leonardo, anthrozoologist and Executive Director of Humane Long Island said: “Animals, whether dogs or goats, sheep or chickens experience terror and fight for their lives just as we would when faced with the prospect of slaughter, yet for the animals at this illegal backyard slaughter operation, the experience was made even more horrific, with sick and injured animals living among the corpses of their friends.” He then added: “Humane Long Island thanks the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and its Biological, Environmental, and Animal Safety Team for prosecuting this heinous case of aggravated animal cruelty and reminds the public that they too can save hundreds of animals annually by simply leaving them off their plates.”
At LAURO’s arraignment, Riverhead Town Justice Court Judge, the Honorable Sean Walter ordered him to be held without bail. LAURO’s next court date is slated to take place on January 17, 2024.
In a statement, District Attorney Tierney said: “This is a particularly horrific example of cruelty. While we unfortunately could not rescue all of the animal victims that our investigators found on this defendant’s property, we will seek justice for them.”
I emailed the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office to request LAURO’s booking photograph, but I was told: “We do not disclose the arrest photo of a defendant prior to a disposition.”
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