BEAST To Prosecute Animal And Environment Abusers And Polluters

An animal can’t call 911, and neither can a tree, Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Jed Painter underscored, explaining a new initiative called the Biological, Environmental and Animal Safety Team, or BEAST, launched by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.

The first-of-its-kind combined unit for the prosecution of animal and environmental crimes, BEAST is manned by nine prosecutors from an array of units within the DA’s office, all volunteering hours beyond their regular duties.

Painter serves as general counsel to the office, in addition to helming BEAST. Tierney recruited Painter, who is the co-chair of the Animal Crimes Committee of the New York State District Attorney’s Association, from the Nassau County district attorney’s office, where he served as the chief of animal crimes for 11 years.

BEAST is unique, Painter said, because team members will actually meet with animal victims personally. “I don’t think anyone else in the nation is doing this,” he said.

The meetings will allow attorneys to get to know “living evidence,” and maintain an awareness about the animal they’re speaking for — just like a prosecutor would meet with the human victim of any other crime.

In animal cruelty cases, Painter pointed out, “the victims go to jail first.” They’re impounded and taken away from homes and “put behind bars, pretty much,” he said.

Meeting those victims makes BEAST attorneys more cognizant of what the “animal evidence” is going through.

With cocaine or gun cases, the ADA continued, the evidence can sit on a shelf for a year or two as a case wends its way through court. “If you’re impounding a puppy or a young dog and you’re leaving that dog for one or two years, you should be aware you’ve got a living, sentient being waiting for you to finish up,” Painter said.

By mandating they go meet with their living evidence, the ADAs are also meeting code enforcement and shelter officials and forming essential relationships that they will need in the field. Painter said the goal is building bridges all throughout the county.

Although Tierney just announced the formation of BEAST, the team began meeting in January, “since day one,” Painter reported. Tierney hired him as general counsel, but with the BEAST idea in mind.

“I got a team recruited from the beginning,” he said. The newest addition is a dedicated detective who came from NYPD’s animal cruelty investigation squad. In addition to in-house training, BEAST ADAs attended specialized training with the New York State Animal Protection Federation and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at the New York State Police Academy in Albany.

Why merge animal and environmental crimes into BEAST? In both realms, the victims can’t speak for themselves, Painter noted. “The ecosystem can’t call 911,” he explained. “You have to have dedicated advocates.”

Cases BEAST will cover fall under two bodies of law generally unfamiliar to the broader law enforcement community. Animal cruelty laws govern the safety of pets while environmental conservation law protects other kinds of animals, like deer.

On the environmental side, Painter said, “If it’s in the ecosystem, that’s what BEAST is going to be doing.” For environmental prosecutions, BEAST has coordinated with the court and outside agencies to create a community service program that will focus on beach cleanup, trail cleanup, and other environmentally restorative projects.

BEAST ADAs also will personally contribute to environmental projects throughout the island as part of the initiative. The volunteer ADAs on the team are required to be on-call to law enforcement for warrants and field guidance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The team will be working with an array of agencies — varied parks departments, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, police, code enforcement, animal control. “Whoever is doing the enforcement, they’ll all come to me and my team,” Painter said. There’s just one cook in the kitchen, Painter, but “a lot of different ingredients pouring in.”

There’s no shortage of cases, the ADA informed, noting a number of complaints came in over the weekend since BEAST’s formation was officially announced by Tierney on April 28.

“I’m very proud of this initiative. The abuse of animals in Suffolk County will not be tolerated and we are going to ensure that individuals charged with environmental offenses will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Tierney in the release announcing BEAST’s formation. “We have one of the strongest legal advocates for animals and the environment on our team and he’s going to ensure no case falls through the cracks.”

“We need more district attorneys to take animal crimes more seriously and the establishment of the Biological, Environmental and Animal Safety Team, with an apt acronym of BEAST, will show other DAs across New York what they can do,” said Libby Post, executive director of the New York State Animal Protection Federation. “We know that crimes against animals are gateway crimes that too often include domestic violence. Taking animal crimes seriously is crucial for our companion animals and the people who care for them.”

Ginnie Frati, executive director of the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center, recently experienced a dramatic and traumatic case of poaching, with the victim dying in her arms.

“This is a welcome addition to the district attorney’s office,” she said this week. “We are especially sensitive to this issue, since a deer was shot right on the property of our wildlife hospital this past January. It is our hope that crimes against wildlife will be given the same priority as crimes against domestic animals.”

Painter assured BEAST would prosecute such crimes.

“Suffolk County communities will benefit from increased prosecution of illegal animal cruelty,” said Brian Shapiro, New York State director for the Humane Society of the United States offered in the announcement release. “Animal crimes are often linked to drugs, guns, domestic violence and other abuse. We applaud D.A. Tierney for establishing the Biological, Environmental and Animal Safety Team, which will help bolster animal protection work in the county.” The Humane Society of the United States estimates that nearly one million animals a year are killed or abused during incidents of domestic violence. The website petpedia.com notes more than 10 million animals died from abuse in the U.S. each year.

BEAST will collect registry and protective orders that relate to animals and coordinate compliance checks. They’ll prosecute any subsequent offenses.

Painter has received the prestigious “Prosecutor of the Year” Award from the New York Prosecutors Training Institute and his work specific to animal crimes has earned him the Humane Law Enforcement Award from the National Sheriffs Association and the Humane Society of the United States.

Suffolk County residents can contact BEAST directly at BEAST@suffolkcountyny.gov.