What Happened
Suffolk County Police said the Port Jefferson Fire Department and Fire Marshals responded Monday to a fire on the roof at 3 Willis Ave. caused by a nearby transformer malfunction. Firefighters observed several different species of animals without food or water in the residence, living in what police described as deplorable conditions.
Patch reported that the fire department responded at approximately 9:45 a.m. and that residents in the area took to social media to report seeing a large police presence, which included a command center.
Each was charged with 13 counts of Failure to Provide Proper Food and Drink to Impounded Animals. All three were issued Desk Appearance Tickets.
News 12 reported that Suffolk police did not specify the types of animals that were discovered. Greater Long Island reported that police also did not detail where the animals were taken.
The three defendants were arraigned Tuesday at First District Court in Central Islip. Suffolk County Police noted that a criminal charge is an accusation and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
On This Corridor
Long Island Traffic’s incident registry shows 8 previously published reports on incidents in Port Jefferson in the past 12 months, counted from LIT’s deduplicated registry of currently indexable articles by incident date.
What we don’t know yet: the types of animals found at the residence and where they were taken following the investigation.
Sources
- Suffolk County Police Department (official record)
- News 12
- Patch
- Greater Long Island