Suffolk SPCA charges Bay Shore man in dog abuse case

A Bay Shore man is facing animal-cruelty charges after Suffolk County SPCA investigators said he struck his dog with a stick and kept the animal tethered too short at a home in the hamlet. The case centers on Knox, a 1-year-old male Pitbull mix, and raises the same neighborhood-level concerns that often surface first through a barking complaint, a visible chain, or a dog yelping from inside a yard.

Authorities identified the defendant as Dashawn T. Moore, 33. SPCA investigators said the alleged abuse happened in March 2026, when Moore struck Knox with a stick and the dog yelped and yowled. Investigators also said Moore secured Knox to a railing with a tether shorter than the 15-foot minimum required under Suffolk County code, leading to a separate misdemeanor count for insufficient tether length. Chief Roy Gross announced the charges, and SPCA detectives issued Moore a field appearance ticket on June 17. Moore is scheduled to be arraigned in First District Court in Central Islip on July 7.

The Suffolk County SPCA said its humane law-enforcement officers are certified New York State peace officers with authority to investigate cruelty complaints and bring misdemeanor or felony charges. Under state law, unjustifiably injuring or cruelly beating an animal is a class A misdemeanor, while aggravated cruelty is a felony reserved for intentionally killing or causing serious physical injury in an especially depraved or sadistic manner. In this case, the charges are misdemeanors, but the agency treated the allegations as serious enough to move the case into court.

For residents who suspect abuse or neglect on their block, the SPCA says complaints can be reported confidentially 24 hours a day at 631-382-7722. Signs that can justify a call include a dog tied with a chain that appears too short, repeated yelping or howling, an animal being struck, or unsafe conditions around a railing, yard, or porch where the animal is confined.

The Bay Shore case also fits a pattern of prior SPCA enforcement in the area. In February 2025, the agency handled a Bay Shore cruelty case involving a Maltese mix named Polly, and in 2018 it responded to a Bay Shore case involving nine cats found living in filth. Those cases show how animal-neglect complaints can become a recurring public-safety issue long before they rise to a broader criminal pattern.

Suffolk County officials also stress the public-health side of animal care. County law requires dogs, cats and ferrets to be vaccinated against rabies, and health officials say three to six percent of bats tested annually in Suffolk County are rabies-positive. In 2025, Suffolk reported rabies-positive animals including five bats, 18 raccoons and one feral cat, another reminder that pet confinement and animal welfare can carry consequences well beyond one backyard.