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Noodles the kitten made a strong recovery earlier this year after he was thrown from a moving car in Essex County. He and his three siblings spent nearly a week in the wild before they found refuge at the North Country SPCA in Westport.
Staff Photo/Andrea VanValkenburg /


One of the 11 cats abandoned inside a run-down city apartment and seized by Plattsburgh City Police. All of the cats have since been adopted into new homes.
Photo Provided /


Noodles the kitten (above and below right) made a strong recovery earlier this year after he was thrown from a moving car in Essex County. He and his three siblings spent nearly a week in the wild before they found refuge at the North Country SPCA in Westport.
Staff Photo/Andrea VanValkenburg /


Noodles the kitten made a strong recovery earlier this year after he was thrown from a moving car in Essex County. He and his three siblings spent nearly a week in the wild before they found refuge at the North Country SPCA in Westport.
Staff Photo/Andrea VanValkenburg /


As officials detailed the growing problem of neglected and abused animals in the tri-county area, Plattsburgh City Police seized 11 cats, including the ones above and at right, and four dogs who were abandoned inside a run-down city apartment. All of the cats have since been adopted into new homes.
Photo Provided /

Published October 11, 2008 10:45 pm - Animal Cruelty Investigator Kelly Allen has seen it all -- horses so starved their legs buckled under their diminished weight, dogs with pierced ears, animals covered in cigarette burns, pets beaten and broken and left to die in remote ditches, and unwanted kittens suffocated and drowned in area waterways.

Animal abuse: North Country plague
Animal cruelty: a North Country plague

By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG
Staff Writer

After a few days, the red open sores had begun to heal and the stitches crossing his shaved stomach had almost disappeared.

His body was ravaged, but his spirit was not, and it was clear to everyone he was going to pull through.

Still battered and somewhat malnourished, Noodles the kitten was in full spirits, enjoying the simple pleasures of pouncing on a scrap of paper and soaking in the extra attention he'd grown to adore.

But his siblings weren't able to adjust as well since being thrown from a moving car earlier this year.

They had escaped the traumatic high-speed fall and week in the wild without visible injury, but their wariness of people endured.

After a seven-day stay at the North Country SPCA in Westport, the three kittens would still cower and tremble each time someone neared, a telltale sign of the abuse they'd already suffered during their young lives.

Officials were amazed by their tenacity and will to live, but, as with every tale of abuse, were discouraged by the audacity and heartless behavior of some pet owners in the area.

LEFT TO DIE

Each year, area shelters are confronted by dozens of malnourished, beaten or neglected animals and try their best to help each one.

But with each animal saved, there's always many more clinging to life and waiting for help.

"There are just so many, and most people don't even realize it. And it's getting so bad," said Kelly Allen, the Elmore SPCA shelter manager and sole animal-cruelty investigator in the area.

She's seen it all -- horses so starved their legs buckled under their diminished weight, dogs with pierced ears, animals covered in cigarette burns, pets beaten and broken and left to die in remote ditches, unwanted kittens suffocated and drowned in area waterways.

Her most recent case of apparent abuse involved an abandoned 14-pound terrier poodle in desperate need of medical care.

"When we first got him, he was screaming in pain. He couldn't move, and he couldn't walk," Allen said.

"His fur was so matted, and he had so many fleas."

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