Probation officer gives office BJ to boot-camp teen
Sharon McDonough Accused of Torturing Neighbors' Pets, Burying Them in Backyard
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 4:22 pm
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| Sharon McDonough is believed to have tortured and killed her neighbors' pets |
For years Sharon McDonough's neighbors in Selden, Long Island found their pets mysteriously vanishing. Now they know why. McDonough's been arrested for running what her own son describes as an "animal concentration camp."
Police received an animal cruelty tip from her son, Douglas McDonough. When they arrived Saturday, they found five dogs crammed into small cages. They knew something weird was going on at the home...
One of the seven kids living with McDonough apparently pointed them to her backyard graveyard. When police started digging, they found the rotting carcasses of at least 20 animals. McDonough is accused of torturing, killing and burying them behind her house.
Investigators are now looking into reports of missing animals in the neighborhood. One family said its dog and two cats vanished. McDonough is only facing misdemeanor cruelty charges for the live animals found in her home. But if she's found to have stolen and killed the neighbors' pets, the charges could be ramped up.
UPDATE: Her son says Sharon McDonough would buy dogs, then inexplicably turn on them.
"She would buy the dog, treat it like it was the greatest dog in the world for a few days, then they would sit in the cage until she decided to kill them," he eldest son Doug told the New York Post. "It was a power trip."
Police have unearthed more than 20 canines from her backyard in a scene that resembled a serial killer's graveyard. Neighbors believe McDonough, a loading dock worker who turned strange after her husband was killed in a car accident last year, kidnapped their animals and killed them.
Sharyn
Padula, who lives down the street, has had a dog and two cats vanish in the past year. "If they find [the pets], I want her to pay," she said.
McDonough faces up to a year for each misdemeanor count of cruelty. But if she's found to have intentionally killed the animals, the charges could be boosted to felonies.
McDonough was caught after her son ratted her out to the reality TV show Rescue Ink, which in turn contacted the Suffolk County SPCA. But if you think this case is weird so far, it just keeps getting weirder.
When the SPCA held a press conference Monday, members of Rescue Ink showed up to say the SPCA had ignored the kids' original calls for help. A member of Rescue Ink -- self-described as "a bunch of
tattooed, motorcycle-riding tough guys who have joined together to
fight animal cruelty" -- charged the animal protection group of sucking on the job.
"These kids risked their lives to try to help these animals," one member told the Gothamist. "And they have been let down by everybody."
The press conference devolved into a shouting match, with the SPCA saying the outburst was merely a publicity stunt to drum up interest in the National Geographic Channel show.
"These kids risked their lives to try to help these animals," one member told the Gothamist. "And they have been let down by everybody."
The press conference devolved into a shouting match, with the SPCA saying the outburst was merely a publicity stunt to drum up interest in the National Geographic Channel show.
Tags: New York
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