Suffolk seeks owner after emaciated dog found in Port Jefferson Station

A 1- to 3-year-old male Yorkshire Terrier mix found on Belle Terre Road in Port Jefferson Station on May 14 at about 11 a.m. was emaciated and had its mouth tightly rubber-banded shut, leaving Suffolk investigators with a grim question: who did this, and how long was the dog left to suffer before someone found it? The dog is now at Brookhaven Animal Shelter.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Tips can be submitted anonymously by calling 1-800-220-TIPS or through the P3 Tips app or website, and officials say calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential. Investigators want anyone who saw the dog, recognized it, or knows who owned it to come forward now, while the trail is still fresh.

The case is being handled by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Biological, Environmental and Animal Safety Team, known as BEAST, a unit established under District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney to investigate and prosecute animal and environmental crimes. Assistant District Attorney Jed Painter leads the team, and Operation Bloodhound, the county’s joint enforcement push with the Suffolk County Police Department, was launched to make sure animal-cruelty laws and court mandates are enforced.

If prosecutors can prove aggravated cruelty to animals under New York law, the offense is a felony and can bring a definite prison sentence of up to two years. Suffolk also created an animal-abuse offender registry by local law in 2010, and county lawmakers have described it as the first of its kind in the nation, underscoring how seriously the county treats cruelty cases that begin with a call from a resident and can end in court.