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Richard Doyle, 56 of Mahopac, pleaded guilty to five counts of animal cruelty charges on Dec. 2 in Danbury Superior Court, Yorktown News reported. He was sentenced to three years' probation, was ordered to have no affiliation with a pet store or rescue shelter, and was required to donate $5,000 to Second Chance Rescue, according to Yorktown News.
The charges stem from two separate arrests, one in July 2015 and another in April 2016. The first arrest was the result of an investigation by state animal control officers from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture into Doyle's Danbury pet shop, American Breeders. The investigation was started after a complaint from one of his employees about mistreatment of animals, according to officials.
The investigation revealed that Doyle had performed a surgical procedure on the eye of a Neapolitan Mastiff in his pet shop, which he is not licensed to do. He told one of his employees to treat animals with medication and administer shots, which she was not authorized to do, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Doyle also confined a critically ill kitten and failed to provide it with immediate care, according to investigators. The kitten was later euthanized. He also failed to provide care to a sick Shih-Tzu puppy, which suffered vomiting diarrhea and coughing and also had to be euthanized.
The second arrest stemmed from allegations that he had performed an illegal medical procedure on a sick puppy. Doyle was attempting to drain a cyst on the puppy's elbow in a procedure that was described as "torture" in the arrest warrant.
In addition to the Danbury shop, Doyle also owned shops in Yorktown, Wappingers Falls and Mamaroneck.
One of the managers of the Danbury store, 29-year-old Kathy Seton of Cold Spring, N.Y., was also arrested on animal cruelty charges in July 2015. She was sentenced on Dec. 2 to conditional discharge, according to WLAD.com.
Click here to read the Yorktown News story and click here to read the WLAD.com story.
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