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Ellie Knoller, age 32, of Mineola, was sentenced to one year behind bars Wednesday, Oct. 26, in Nassau County Court.
It followed his guilty plea to three felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals in March 2022.
Investigators began looking into Knoller in February 2019, when he brought a lethargic and lifeless 11-week-old female Goldendoodle puppy named Bella to an emergency veterinarian in Westbury.
An examination revealed that she had suffered multiple fractured ribs, bruising on her lungs, bleeding behind her eyes, and a broken leg, according to prosecutors.
Her injuries were so severe that one of her legs had to be amputated, while a metal rod was inserted in another leg to aid in its healing.
Bella’s medical care was so expensive that the Nassau County SPCA established a separate page on its website to collect donations from the public.
Further investigation revealed that just weeks before Bella was brought in, Knoller had adopted a 10-12-week-old male Shepherd mix named Tucker from a local shelter. Within days, the animal was dead.
Just days after Tucker’s death, prosecutors said Knoller adopted another 10-12-week-old male Goldendoodle puppy named Cooper, from a breed in Pennsylvania.
Two days later, he brought the animal to an emergency veterinarian in Garden City, where it was pronounced dead, according to investigators.
In both cases, experts concluded that the puppies had died from blunt force trauma, with Tucker dying from a ruptured kidney and Cooper dying from a lacerated liver.
Following the deaths of the first two puppies, Knoller received Bella after complaining to the breeder that Cooper had “unexpectedly died,” prosecutors said.
Bella, who is from the same litter as Cooper, has since been adopted by a family on Long Island.
“Three defenseless puppies were subjected to extraordinary violence by this defendant,” Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly said in a statement.
“The internal injuries these animals sustained are uncommon – even in animal abuse cases – and are consistent with terrifying blunt force trauma.
"This case stands apart in the decades of animal crimes this office has prosecuted as one of the worst we’ve seen,” she continued.
In addition to his jail time, Knoller was ordered to complete five years of probation and is banned from owning any animals for 50 years.
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