SPCA, Rescue Ink Clash Over Selden, NY Animal Cruelty Case

Nazi-like Sharon McDonough forced her children to torture and abuse animals, then kill them and bury them in her yard. Her son couldn't take it any longer and called RESCUE INK for help.

Groups clash over Selden animal cruelty case

November 9, 2009 By PATRICK WHITTLE  patrick.whittle@newsday.com

QUICK SUMMARY

Sharon McDonough was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty on Saturday after five neglected dogs and a cat were recovered from her home.

Photo credit: James Carbone | Lisa Donay, a worker at Pet Supplies/Grooming in Farmingville, holds a cocker spaniel that was rescued from a Selden woman's home. (Nov. 8, 2009)

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The case of Sharon McDonough, charged with animal cruelty, took a bizarre turn Monday when members of animal welfare group Rescue Ink interrupted a Suffolk SPCA news conference to accuse the SPCA of mishandling the case.

McDonough, 43, of Selden, was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty on Saturday after five neglected dogs and a cat were recovered from her home. Twenty other dead animals, all believed to be dogs, were dug up from her backyard. She pleaded not guilty to the charges Sunday.

The SPCA, which removed the animals from the home and is still investigating the case, held a news conference in a Farmingville pet store Monday with the intention of asking the public for more information about the case.

But several members of Rescue Ink, a Long Beach-based group that describes itself on its Web site as a "bunch of tattooed, motorcycle-riding tough guys who have joined together to fight animal cruelty," co-opted the news conference before it began. A member who goes by the nickname Joe Panz said McDonough's six young children, including an 18-month-old, "have been let down by everybody" and accused the SPCA of leaving the children out of the dogs' adoption process.

A shouting match ensued between Panz and Michelle Curtin, director of Second Chance Wildlife Rescue, a group holding the animals for the SPCA. Suffolk police arrived minutes later and escorted Rescue Ink members out of the pet store.

Curtin called Rescue Ink's actions "a media stunt," citing a crew filming them for the group's reality cable TV show.

Suffolk SPCA chief Roy Gross said only one dog has been adopted, by an SPCA detective, he said. The other dogs, and a cat, are still rehabilitating, Gross said. He also said the SPCA contacted Sharon McDonough's oldest son, Doug, 21, and that he said he is unable to care for the animals at this time.

Panz and his colleagues maintained after the dust-up that SPCA's handling of the case was "haphazard."

Suffolk police said no one was arrested.

McDonough is scheduled to appear in First District Court in Central Islip Tuesday. Attempts to reach her and Doug McDonough were unsuccessful.

Doug McDonough told reporters on Saturday that his mother forced his sisters to torture animals. A spokesman for the state Office of Child and Family Services declined to comment. Gross and Suffolk police have declined to comment on the allegation.

Gross said authorities are investigating allegations from neighbors that Sharon McDonough stole their pets. The McDonough house, defaced by the words "Killer" and "Guilty" painted on the mailbox and garage, was cordoned off Monday.

A note from the Suffolk Division of Public Health was taped to McDonough's front door Monday, saying the agency wanted to know about "bags of human feces in the backyard and garage." A spokeswoman did not return a call for comment.