Lawyer: Woman who had 56 dogs 'suffered great loss'

BY STACEY ALTHERR | stacey.altherr@newsday.com

8:50 PM EDT, May 9, 2008

While the district attorney's office decides whether to press charges against an East Northport woman suspected of running a puppy mill out of her East Northport home, Irene Monroig's attorney said she has "suffered a great loss."

"She has a terrific reputation in her community," said her attorney, Eric Naiburg, of Central Islip. "They had no right to take those animals. They needed a warrant, and they twisted her arm to make her surrender the animals."

Town inspectors blocked Monroig's driveway on Wicks Road Tuesday until she came out, and then got her permission to enter the house, according to town public safety director Bruce Richard. Fifty-six dogs were taken from the home Tuesday.

A spokesman for the American Kennel Club said that Monroig, 66, was disciplined seven years ago for sloppy record-keeping. Neighbor complaints to the Town of Huntington date back two years, but authorities could not enter the house then because she wasn't home.

A district attorney spokesman said that the animals' health is still being assessed and a decision regarding charges will be made when that is completed.

Roy Gross, chief executive of the Suffolk County SPCA, said they are working with the district attorney and "are pursuing charges."