Wife of animal cruelty suspect also charged

The wife of a Middle Island man charged last week with six counts of animal cruelty turned herself into authorities Monday on the same charges as her husband, the Suffolk County ASPCA said.

Lisa Ferrara, 51, and her husband, John Ferrara, 22, are both charged with mistreating six Doberman pinschers they owned and kept at their home at 47 South Sweezytown Rd.

Roy Gross, the Suffolk ASPCA chief, said the dogs appeared to have been neglected.

"One of the dogs was in such bad condition, it had to be carried out on a stretcher. Of the dogs, one was pregnant, and unfortunately all [nine] of the puppies died yesterday."

Gross said the dogs were malnourished and had open sores and infections.

The dogs are being cared for by a veterinarian, he said.

"We're going to do whatever we can to get these animals adopted whenever they're healthy enough," Gross said.

Lisa Ferrara was not present when her husband was arrested at their home Aug. 23, but the ASPCA considers her equally responsible for the state of the animals, Gross said.

After she was made aware of this, she surrendered herself to authorities at the Sixth Precinct, Gross said.

Both will be arraigned in First District Court at a later date, Gross said. Neither Ferrara could be reached Monday for comment.

Gross said that upon conviction, each of the misdemeanor charges could be punishable by up to 1-year imprisonment and $1,000 fine.