Crime & Safety
Nassau Pet Store Owner Charged With Neglecting Puppy: SPCA
Officials say the puppy was locked in a cage in the basement and couldn't even walk.

A Nassau pet store owner was arrested on Friday and charged with animal cruelty for allegedly neglecting a puppy locked in the basement of his store.
According to the SPCA, the organization received a complaint on Jan. 30 about The Puppy Store, located at 1163 Merrick Ave. in Merrick. The SPCA investigated the store, and allegedly found a 6-month-old Labrador Retriever puppy in a cage in the basement that was unable to walk. Nassau County police transported the puppy to a veterinarian for immediate care.
The SPCA detectives investigated, and on Friday arrested the store's owner, Robert Lawrence, 40, of Woodmere, for failure to provide veterinary care to a dog in his store.
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Lawrence was charged with overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; failure to provide proper sustenance. He is scheduled to be arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Friday.
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