Two Tiverton residents face animal cruelty charges in the death of a cat found in a vacant Tiverton apartment about a week before Christmas.
Monica B. Velozo, 37, and Juan S. Amalla, both of 1 …
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Two Tiverton residents face animal cruelty charges in the death of a cat found in a vacant Tiverton apartment about a week before Christmas.
Monica B. Velozo, 37, and Juan S. Amalla, both of 1 Mill St., Apt. 3106 and formerly of 62 Main Road, Apt. 2, were charged last week with unnecessary cruelty to animals (death) and abandonment of an animal, about three weeks after Tiverton Animal Control Officer Victoria Sartini began an investigation.
According to police incident reports, Officer Sartini learned on Tuesday, Dec. 17 that property management for the 62 Main Road apartment complex discovered an emaciated, deceased cat in a vacant unit Velozo formerly occupied, after residents reported a foul smell. After entering the apartment, Sartini found the deceased cat in an enclosed litterbox.
Sartini started looking for more information and learned that Velozo had previously put a post on Social Media asking for help looking for Zeke, a cat she said was missing. Police had also been called to the apartment about five weeks previous by residents complaining about a dog in the apartment that was whimpering and barking continuously throughout the day.
As police interviewed others, including Velozo’s daughter, she told police that she believed her mother “had turned Zeke in to Forever Paws animal shelter in Fall River.” But police later confirmed with Forever Paws that that was not true — Sartini “was informed that a cat matching that description had not been turned in,” and “furthermore Forever Paws does not accept cats from Rhode Island,” Officer Jordan DaSilva wrote in his incident report.
In the course of subsequent interviews with Velozo, her daughter, Amalla and others, DaSilva reported that Velozo told her she didn’t know what happened to Zeke, and that the cat belonged to her daughter.
When told that Zeke’s remains had been found in her old apartment, Velozo allegedly told DaSilva that the news surprised her “a little bit,” but accused police of targeting her.
After several other interviews, DaSilva wrote that charges were warranted due to an “inability to provide adequate care and an inability to maintain accountability within their own home of Zeke.”
Both were arrested last Thursday, Jan. 9.