‘Heartbreaking’: Peekskill woman charged with animal cruelty for starving dogs, SPCA says

• Three starving dogs were rescued from an apartment in Peekskill
• SPCA Westchester received a confidential tip about a ‘dog in distress’
• One emaciated pit bull rescued from the scene should have weighed ‘nearly double’

A Peekskill woman was arrested Wednesday, March 5, after authorities found three starving, malnourished dogs in her apartment.

SPCA Westchester Humane Law Enforcement arrested and charged Shannon Deleg, 33, of Peekskill with three counts of animal cruelty.

SPCA spokesperson Lisa Bonanno said SPCA officers searched Deleg’s apartment after a confidential tip about a dog in distress. Upon arrival to the scene, officers found an emaciated pit bull whose ribs and spine were clearly visible.

The dog, whose name is Gracie, weighed only 27 pounds at the time of her rescue. Bonanno said pit bulls her size should weigh “nearly double that.”

Learn more: Take a look at SPCA Westchester, an animal rescue center and clinic in Briarcliff Manor

Bonanno said SPCA officers found two more emaciated mixed breed dogs in the apartment during the investigation.

“Both were locked inside a filthy, cramped cage and forced to live in thick layers of urine and feces,” Bonanno said. All three dogs were immediately seized and rushed to SPCA Westchester’s Rescue Center for malnourishment and dehydration treatment.

“These poor dogs likely cried and begged for food and it’s heartbreaking that their pleas were ignored,” says Shannon Laukhuf, SPCA Westchester’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are so thankful that a good Samaritan called the SPCA’s cruelty hotline before they were starved to death.”

Anyone who witnesses or suspects an animal is being neglected or abused is asked to call the SPCA’s confidential animal cruelty hotline at 914-941-7797.                           

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