Task Force Meets to Combat Animal Abuse
The Saratoga County Animal Abuse Task Force held a meeting April 1 to discuss new tactics for combating animal abuse (Aidan Cahill)
Sheriff Jeff Brown said one of the factors that led to the formation of the task force was the recent case of animal abuse at A Time Four Paws
(Courtesy of the Saratoga County DA’s Office).
After a summer which saw several high-profile animal abuse incidents in Saratoga, the county is taking action.
A new task force has been formed to combat the issue and develop a coordinated response to incidents of abuse in Saratoga County. The task force is comprised of members of the Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office, Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department, animal control officers, Saratoga County Health Department, elected officials and the Saratoga County Animal Shelter.
The task force invited members of the media to attend a meeting on April 1 where they went over recent changes to policies and procedures related to animal abuse.
One of those changes was the introduction of a thermal camera to detect bruising on an animal without having to shave it. District Attorney Brett Eby said the camera was bought with asset forfeiture funds and it was given to the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office at the meeting.
The purchase and use of the camera was lauded by Saratoga County Animal Shelter Director Kelly Devall.
“The one problem that we have is a lot of these animals are beaten in some way, shape or form and it’s very hard to detect the bruising,” Devall said. “We did have one case where we were able to shave the dog and see very clear bruising. In other cases, we won’t be that lucky.”
The shelter also recently received a new one-touch x-ray machine to help treat injuries more effectively as well as a new laser therapy machine to assist in treating animals with skin problems.
On the law enforcement side, Deputies are being equipped with devices to measure heat and ammonium content in areas where animals are found to better assess the conditions the animals were living in.
“Instead of walking in and saying the ammonium scent a was really strong, they will have an actual reading of what was going on, or how high the temperature was that the animals were having to exist in with no food and no water and the impact that could be having on those animals as far as their lungs go,” Devall said.
Saratoga County Sheriff Jeff Brown said that deputies trained in animal abuse investigations will have access to these tools to help in their investigations.
The task force came about after an incident at A Time Four Paws in the Town of Halfmoon, where multiple animals were found confined in an areas without proper ventilation or sufficient access to water in July 2025. One of the animals, a French bulldog named Gus tragically died from heatstroke as a result of the incident.
The owner of A Time Fourr Paws, Yvette Giovanni, was recently indicted on charges of aggravated cruelty to animals, criminal mischief in the second degree, and 11 counts of overdriving, torturing, and injuring animals. The incident, along with another incident in the Town of Argyle led local lawmakers to propose legislation to regulate boarding facilities statewide. The bill is currently in committee.
Brown said that the incident at A Time Four Paws highlighted the need for more coordination among the agencies involved in combating animal abuse.
“One of the reasons that this task force was formed that was such a large case,” Brown said. “There were people coming in from all over on that. We thought the task force would formalize those relationships. So when those big all hands-on-deck cases come in, we built the relationships and we’re more ready to respond to those cases.”
Another major development that came as a result of the animal abuse cases was the introduction of a county-wide animal abuse registry. In September, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the law creating the registry with it first being implemented in January of this year.
Under the law, those who have been convicted of animal abuse offenses are required to register as an animal abuser and submit a photo. So far, one person has been added to the registry, Richard Mark Doyle, who pled guilty to animal abuse this year.
Saratoga is one of 20 counties in New York to implement the registry. While independent groups compile this information, there is no state registry statewide.
“There are different independent groups that will take all of the county registries, and they compile them on to one website,” Eby said. “Obviously, it would be better to have a statewide registry, but in Saratoga County, we didn’t want to wait for Albany to get tough on animal abuse and take it as seriously as we are.”