Nassau Man Starved Dog To Death: District Attorney

A Uniondale man was arrested on Tuesday and charged with starving his dog to death and also not providing enough food to a puppy he owned.

Harold Nichols, 70, was arraigned yesterday and charged with two counts of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; and failure to provide proper sustenance. He is due back in court on Jan. 17. He is prohibited from owning any animals during the duration of his case. If convicted, he could face a year in jail.

“This defendant’s alleged neglect left an innocent dog to die of starvation and a young puppy hungry and underweight,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “This kind of cruelty will not be tolerated in Nassau County. I’m grateful to the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter for the care they provided to nurse this puppy back to health.”

According to Singas, on Dec. 14, 2018, Nichols called the Town of Hempstead Animal shelter to report that his 4-year-old Shepherd mix named Shek had died. When shelter officials arrived at Nichols' home, Singas said that they saw the dog was in a kennel in the backyard and was extremely underweight. The door to the kennel was wired shut, Singas said, with grass and leaves piled up at the bottom and blocking entry.

Singas said that Nichols fed the dog by putting food in plastic newspaper bags and throwing them into the kennel. An examination by a veterinarian found that the dog was 25 to 30 pounds underweight, with sunken eyes and fly bite lesions on both ears. There were also plastic bags found in its digestive tract.

While at his house for the deceased dog, the shelter officials found a 4- to 8-month-old German Shepherd puppy living in a different metal kennel in the backyard, Singas said. A vet's examination found that the puppy, named Jay's Ultimate Falco, was slightly underweight and was extremely hungry when given food. Singas said that Nichols also fed the puppy by throwing plastic bags of food into the kennel. Scraps of plastic were found around and in the kennel, Singas said.

The puppy was taken to the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter and nursed back to health.

Photos courtesy Nassau County District Attorney's Office.