Settlement Shutters Facility After Undercover Video Footage Shows Severe and Fatal Neglect of Animals
For Immediate Release:
January 28, 2013
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Delhi, N.Y. -- As part of the settlement of a lawsuit by the New York State Office of the Attorney General, Angel's Gate, Inc., a self-proclaimed animal "hospice and rehabilitation center" in Delhi, run by its founder Susan Marino, has been closed. The attorney general's action followed a review of evidence from PETA's undercover investigation of Angel's Gate that revealed rampant, severe, and often fatal neglect of sick, injured, and dying animals.
Angel's Gate and Marino acknowledged that they had knowingly failed to account for donations since June 2007 in violation of New York law. The settlement prohibits Marino from caring for or harboring any animals other than her own "pets" and from being an officer or a director of an organization that holds charitable funds for 10 years. Additionally, Marino was banned from owning any animals for six months by order of Kortright Town Justice Yvonne Pagillo on November 7, 2012. That ruling came as a result of cruelty-to-animals charges against Marino—also prompted by PETA's findings.
"This ruling means that people will no longer unwittingly relinquish their animals or their money to that hell on Earth formerly known as Angel's Gate," says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. "It's also a wakeup call to keep your eyes wide open if you are considering passing your animal on to an outfit that sounds good but is anything but."
PETA's evidence shows that Marino kept animals in crowded conditions that led to fights and injuries, which were then left untreated; denied animals medical treatment and medications for pain, seizures, tumors, open wounds, and infections; left paraplegic dogs to drag themselves around and sustain open wounds, despite the availability of wheelchair carts; and left diapers on animals who needed to have their bladders emptied, until they finally urinated on themselves and sustained urine scald. In one case, a miniature horse named Mimi was denied veterinary care for severe respiratory distress, until she finally died. Months after Mimi's death, Marino was still soliciting donations for the horse's care on Angel's Gate's website. Please click here to view PETA's video footage.
For more information, please visit PETA's website.