Neighborhoods Bronx Woman Arrested for Starving Her Pups
by John Surico
No one likes a canine abuser so here’s a story that most likely will not cheer up your Saturday.
At the end of February, the Humane Law Enforcement responded to a complaint in the north borough by neighbors who had spotted two frail pups hanging around an apartment building on Webster Avenue. The dogs belonged to Gillian Irving, a 27-year-old woman who reportedly ignored her two seven-month-old pit bulls for weeks on end.
Yesterday, the American Society for the Prevention for Cruelty to Animal (ASPCA) – a group that conducts large-scale SWAT-esque raids of places involved in animal abuse – concluded that the woman was not only neglecting her pups but starving them to boot. Yes, people like this exist in the world.
When the dogs entered the care of the ASPCA, they respectively weighed 16.4 and 15.2 pounds. After being looked over by veterinarians, the dogs now weigh 27.1 and 26.9 pounds (Gothamist has heart-wrenching before and after shots of these poor pups here).
Thankfully, sweet justice ensued: charges have been placed against the woman for two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and she could face two years in prison.
Unfortunately, according to CBS, this is the third time of the year that a person like Gillian Irving has been reported in the Bronx and the sixteenth time in all of New York City. These are disturbing statistics, especially after that whole “accident” with Michael Vick. Oh, and also the fact that it’s only April.