Crime Watch

N. Merrick woman charged with animal neglect

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A North Merrick woman was charged with neglect of an impounded animal, and torturing or injuring animals and failure to provide sustenance, after detectives found 15 dogs living in unsanitary conditions at her home on July 12.

Seibert, 36, was also charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. She surrendered to officers in Baldwin on July 12. She was arraigned on July 13 at First District Court in Hempstead.

According to court documents, Yvette Seibert’s home, at 28 Aster Ave., was in a severely deteriorated state. The Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals received an email from the Nassau County executive’s office calling for an investigation of the home after anonymous tips of children and dogs living in the home in unhealthy living conditions.

Seibert’s attorney, Michael Helfer, of Bellmore, told the Herald that he is certain the case will be resolved. “The allegations at the time did not rise to the level that the district attorney’s office thought they did,” he said, “and when I said that — even from the district attorney’s point of view—the dogs were not malnourished and the children were taken care of. Things aren’t quite what they appear to be.”

In a deposition filed at First District Court, Nassau County SPCA Detective Matthew Roper stated that he and fellow investigator Stewart Cohen visited Seibert’s home on July 11 at around 8 p.m. to begin the probe. As the detectives approached the door, they heard several dogs barking.

“As we stood at the door knocking, I also noticed a smell of urine while at the doorstep,” Roper said in the statement. A neighbor soon noticed the men and informed them that Seibert had left a few minutes earlier. The unidentified neighbor told the detectives that Seibert had left with her older child, while the younger child stayed with a neighbor across the street.

Once Seibert arrived and consented to a search of the home, Roper described a disturbing scene. “Yvette then unlocked the front door and I walked inside the home before Yvette,” he wrote in the statement. “And once the door opened, I observed garbage knee deep from the entrance looking inside, and also a heavy smell of urine and feces was evident.”

Roper said that surfaces throughout the home were covered in trash. Each room on the second floor, where both children slept, was covered in garbage and dirty clothes.

“Once inside each of the children’s rooms on the second floor, there were clothes on the floors, beds and atop the dressers, dried feces and the strong smell of urine in these rooms, and no clean clothes anywhere in the rooms,” Roper said.
He also took note of several dog cages throughout the home. On the second floor, a cage containing five dogs, sitting in urine and feces, blocked the room, “making egress difficult in case of an emergency.” On the first floor, the detectives noticed another small cage containing five more dogs. Roper said he had trouble walking from one room to the next because of the amount of garbage on the floor.

Ten schnauzers, four Jack Russell terriers and a Chihuahua were recovered from the home “with tangled, matted fur, smelling of urine and coats caked with fecal matter.” The dogs ranged from 6 months to 5 years. During the investigation, both children were taken to an area hospital for evaluation, and the dogs were sent to the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter in Wantagh.

“Anytime we remove animals from homes in an immediate manner, you always shake your head,” NCSPCA President Gary Rogers said. “These animals don’t have a choice in the unsanitary conditions they’ve been put in. They can’t speak for themselves when they’re put in a situation they can’t get themselves out of.”
Rogers said that cases like these are never easy, but he hopes neighbors are able to spot animals living in unsanitary, unhealthy or neglectful conditions and report them to the NCSPCA.

“If you’re a resident in your neighborhood, you know what’s going on,” he said. “People can try to bury their heads, but there’s an obligation to children and animals. When the smell of urine or feces is strong, if there’s a lot of barking or any kind of smell, that’s a sign. If your child goes to visit a home and there’s exotic animals or they see different types of animals in the house, it’s best to be safe and make sure it’s a healthy living environment.”

Town Supervisor Anthony Santino, Councilman Anthony D’Esposito and Town Clerk Nasrin Ahmad held a July 15 news conference to call on residents to adopt the 15 rescued dogs.

Residents who wish to adopt one of them, or any of the 150 dogs and cats at the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter, may visit the shelter’s website at www.toh.li/animal-shelter or call (516) 785-5220. Rogers said residents may dial (516) THE-SPCA if animal abuse or neglect is suspected.