Long Island Mom’s Yard Was A Pet Cemetery

Admin: Kenn Bell

Categories: Inhumane Practices, Law Enforcement, News, Pet Safety

By SELIM ALGAR, TAYLOR VESCEY and JEREMY OLSHAN For The New York Post

She’s Long Island’s own Cruella de Vil.

Sharon McDonough’s son Doug told The Post that his mother would buy dogs and then turn on them, killing them and burying them in the back yard.

She was released without bail yesterday after pleading not guilty to animal cruelty after the remains of more than 20 dogs were unearthed behind her Selden, LI, house.

“She would buy the dog, treat it like it was the greatest dog in the world for a few days, then they would sit in the cage until she decided to kill them,” the eldest of McDonough’s seven children said. “It was a power trip.”

After her son tipped off the anti-cruelty TV show Rescue Ink, which in turn notified the Suffolk County SPCA, officials descended on her home.

“The sickening smell was sometimes overpowering to our officers and the firefighters,” SPCA Chief Roy Gross said of the backyard excavation. “Absolutely unbelievable to me that someone could do such a thing.”

Five dogs and a cat living in the home were removed by the SPCA and are now up for adoption, including a shepherd mix, beagle mix, cocker-spaniel mix and a puggle.

“I’m just glad we could get the other animals out before the same thing happened to them,” Gross said.

McDonough faces up to a year in prison on each of the misdemeanor counts, but if authorities determine that she intentionally killed the animals, the charges could be raised to a felony and she could be put away for much longer, officials said.

Although Gross believes McDonough bought each of the dogs, some neighbors whose pets have gone missing in recent years, now suspect she is to blame.

Sharyn Padula, 42, who lives down the block, said three of her animals have gone missing in the past year: a Chihuahua named Bali and two cats, Sylvester and Annabelle.

“If they find [the pets], I want her to pay,” she said.

The dogs rescued from her home were registered to McDonough, but necropsies will be conducted to determine if any of the canine carcasses belonged to her neighbors.

Neighbors said McDonough, who unloads trucks at a nearby Target, began to act a little off after her husband, Darren, was killed in a car accident a year ago.