Crime
WHEATFIELD: Falls man can’t find surrendered pit bulls after raid
Volunteers at Pit Stop Puppies say one dog dead, the other adopted
A Niagara Falls man who left his two pit bulls at a Wheatfield-area animal shelter later raided by county officials called police Saturday after being unable to be reunited with the dogs.
Niagara County Sheriff’s deputies were called to Pit Stop Puppies, 3049 Niagara Falls Blvd. about 4 p.m. where they met up with a Woodlawn Avenue man who told them he “sheltered” his two pit bulls at the facility on Oct. 16.
The man said he was in the process of moving and needed a place to keep the dogs. He had read about the facility in the paper, the report said.
The man said the owner of Pit Stop, Joelle R. Kott, told him he’d have to surrender both dogs through documentation until he was able to pick them up. The man agreed and signed the two dogs — Bruno, a brown brindle and Blue, a blue-nosed pit bull — over to Kott. The man told deputies while he only paid $500 for each dog, they were worth thousands due to their breed.
The man said he later came back to Pit Stop when he heard it had been raided on Jan. 29. On that day, Niagara County Sheriff’s deputies and SPCA personnel showed up unannounced at Kott’s home at 7193 Norman Road and Pit Stop Puppies. Investigators said 24 dogs were found in proximity to two children, ages 12 and 2. Eighteen of the animals were seized from the home, deputies said. Of those, six were left at the home and one dog was found dead.
Animal rescue squads removed the dogs from Kott’s home before 22 more dogs were taken from Pitstop Puppy’s headquarters on Niagara Falls Boulevard.
Kott was later charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Niagara County SPCA Board President Brandy Scrufari said at the time there was no heat in the shelter and many, not all, of the animals were emaciated and showed signs of thirst, such as eating snow as they were being taken from the home.
It was noted that many of the animals Kott took in were abused or neglected prior to being placed in her care.
On Saturday, the Falls pit bull owner said following the raid he went to the Niagara County SPCA to pick up his dogs Bruno and Blue but couldn’t find them there. He said he was later told by a volunteer at Pit Stop that one of his dogs, Bruno, was the dog found dead in Kott’s garage. The volunteer said the dog had died in their arms on Dec. 18 and was then thrown into the garbage. The carcass was found the day of the raid.
The man told deputies he then tried to contact Kott about his other dog, Blue, with no luck. The man said a volunteer showed him a text message allegedly from Kott that read “(Expletive, the dog’s owner) he ain’t getting his dog back.” The owner was then told the dog had been given to a family in the area, according to the report.
The deputy said he also tried to contact Kott on the matter with similar results. The deputy did get a hold of her daughter who reported the dog had been found a home but she was unsure where the dog was. She added her mother was out of town and her mother’s attorney would answer any questions.
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