New complaints against Ruff House pet rescue, DA's office says

The owner of a West Islip pet rescue organization is facing new complaints about animal care after being charged with animal cruelty in March, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

Authorities won't share the nature of the new complaints against Diane Indelicato, president of Ruff House Rescue. The district attorney's office did not provide any information about the accusations in the complaints and would not say who made them, how many the office has received, or whether the new complaints are being investigated. 

The owner has continued running the pet rescue operation as she awaits trial.

Indelicato, 61, was arrested March 17 on a misdemeanor charge for allegedly neglecting a sick and suffering dog, which later died at the rescue after multiple warnings from her staff went unheeded, according to Suffolk County charging documents and sworn witness statements.

Indelicato, in a statement to detectives, has denied neglecting rescue animals. She pleaded not guilty March 31, Newsday previously reported, and was released on recognizance.

Indelicato declined an interview with Newsday. Her attorney, Jan Drew Goldman, of Garden City, did not respond to multiple calls and emails. Ruff House Rescue board members also did not respond to requests for comment.

In a text to Newsday, Indelicato said her attorney is unaware of any new complaints.

A stated goal of helping

Ruff House is one of many rescues in New York with a stated goal of saving animals at risk of being killed in shelters or that are otherwise vulnerable. Roy Gross, chief of department for the Suffolk County SPCA, wouldn't speak specifically about the organization but said the SPCA has received multiple complaints about Ruff House over the years.

The organization is a nonprofit certified with the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. Indelicato told detectives that Ruff House is staffed by "20+" volunteers, and IRS nonprofit tax forms from 2023, the most recent available, show it brought in about $226,000 in revenue that year and had nearly $1.3 million in total assets. Indelicato was the rescue's only paid employee with a salary of $114,100, the tax forms show.

Ruff House Rescue was operating as of Wednesday, when Newsday observed several women walking dogs in and out of the facility. One, at the rescue's entrance, identified herself as a volunteer and said Indelicato was still running the rescue. 

At least six former rescue volunteers spoke with detectives between last November and March about alleged mismanagement at the rescue, according to copies of their sworn statements provided by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. They described subpar conditions ranging from kennels covered in feces and urine, to dogs not receiving treatment for conditions like heartworm and fleas.

"I was heartbroken to see the poor conditions and neglect that these animals were forced to endure," former volunteer Alexa Farinella, 24, wrote in her statement. 

Indelicato’s case centers around the Nov. 6 death of Tali, an elderly female pit bull.

Indelicato, in a statement to detectives, said she was not made aware of the seriousness of the dog's condition.

“I give up my life for these animals. It's not fun. I spend every day dedicating myself to the animals. I give up my weekends for these animals,” Indelicato wrote in her sworn statement to detectives. “It's not easy, but I do it because I care about them."

JoAnn Roca, a current rescue volunteer, dismissed the former volunteers' allegations as untrue attempts to discredit the operation. She said of Indelicato, “there is no one who does more for the dogs than her. There’s no one who does more to save them.”  

Gross said the Suffolk SPCA has, in the past, received phony complaints of animal abuse manufactured by people with a grudge against an organization or individual. He said "in general, that absolutely does happen."

Indelicato is due back in court on Sept. 4.

The case in focus

The pit bull at the center of the current case arrived at Ruff House in January 2024 from the “Texas Ruff House Ranch," according to former volunteer Kristin Woodhouse. The ranch is where dogs rescued from nearby "kill shelters" go for "quarantine time" before being transported to New York, according to a Ruff House Rescue Facebook post from 2020. 

Woodhouse told detectives Tali "looked to be in bad shape” upon arrival and was diagnosed with heartworms shortly thereafter. But she did not receive treatment until August, when “she had already deteriorated significantly,” Woodhouse wrote.

By the first week of November, Tali’s condition had worsened, multiple former volunteers told detectives.

Woodhouse wrote that volunteers contacted Indelicato in hopes of getting approval to bring Tali to the veterinarian but that Indelicato did not authorize an emergency visit for the dog. 

On the morning of Nov. 6, former volunteer Gail Williams found Tali dead, Williams told detectives.

Indelicato, in her sworn statement to detectives, said Tali likely died from heartworms blocking her blood vessels. 

Indelicato told detectives Tali had recently seen the vet and was scheduled for a spay surgery the following week. She said she was unaware of a health emergency, writing in her sworn statement, “if someone told me she had something serious going on, I would send them to the vet.” 

Indelicato previously operated her organization out of Nassau County until about August 2023, according to a sworn statement by former volunteer Bonnie Zarrillo. 

In September 2010, Newsday reported that Indelicato, then the operator of Ruff House animal shelter in Oceanside, was facing a felony charge of theft after she refused to return two lost dogs to their owner because she considered the animals to be neglected. 

The Nassau County District Attorney's Office did not comment on that case or on whether it has received additional complaints about Indelicato or her rescue. The outcome of Indelicato's 2010 felony charge is unclear.

Suffolk District Attorney spokesperson Tania Lopez said her office does not investigate animal cruelty incidents that occurred outside Suffolk County or before the two-year statute of limitations.

Newsday's Matthew Chayes contributed to this story.