‘One of the worst cases of neglect’ leads to pit bull owner’s arrest in Port Jeff Station

Animal cruelty officers arrested a Port Jefferson Station man following an investigation into a severe case of animal neglect involving an emaciated 15-year-old pit bull.

Acting on a complaint they received in July from a Brookhaven Town veterinarian, Suffolk County SPCA officers eventually discovered that the dog, named Coca, had been neglected and sustained animal cruelty at the hands of her owner, Juan Vargas, 66, the Suffolk SPCA said in a statement.

The dog was in grave condition — extremely emaciated, unable to rise or walk, and suffering with ulcerated wounds across her body — when she was brought to the veterinarian this summer, authorities said. Additionally, large portions of her fur were missing and her paws were red and irritated, with overgrown nails that had curled into her skin and caused painful, oozing wounds, the SPCA said.

Following the vet exam, she was humanely euthanized. The veterinarian described Coca’s condition to authorities as “one of the worst cases of neglect” she had ever encountered, the SPCA Chief Roy Gross said in the announcement.

SPCA detectives, assisted by officers from the Suffolk County Police Department’s Seventh Precinct, visited the dog owner’s home and exhumed Coca’s body, so that a forensic necropsy could be conducted by pathologists at Cornell University’s Animal Health Diagnostic Center in Ithaca, upstate.

The findings in the post-mortem exam led to Vargas’ Sept. 13 arrest, according to Gross. Vargas is charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty and is scheduled to appear in Suffolk County First District Court in Central Islip on Oct. 3.

The Suffolk County SPCA urges residents to report any incidents of animal cruelty or neglect. They can be reached at 631.382.7722.

_{Top photo: Coca the 15-year-old pit bull (Courtesy of Suffolk SPCA).}