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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Homeless Man Whose Dog Was Euthanized by ASPCA Still Facing Charges

 James Tarangelo pets his dog, Pickles.
James Tarangelo pets his dog, Pickles.
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DNAinfo/Danielle Tcholakian

WEST VILLAGE — The Manhattan District Attorney's office is moving forward with charges against a homeless man whose dog was secretly euthanized by the ASPCA.

The ASPCA took custody of Jimmy Tarangelo's dog Spot in August based on concerns about the animal's health and then euthanized the dog without telling Tarangelo, ignoring his phone calls for more than two weeks.

Tarangelo was only informed his dog had been killed when DNAinfo New York made inquiries.

Now there's a chance that Tarangelo, 62, who lives out of his van in the Village, could have his remaining dog, Pickles, taken away from him, too.

In Manhattan Criminal Court this week, where Tarangelo appeared on a charge of animal torture, an assistant district attorney argued that Tarangelo should be barred from owning or being responsible for animals for a year.

 James Tarangelo and his remaining dog, Pickles, outside the van where he lives on Greenwich Street.
James Tarangelo and his remaining dog, Pickles, outside the van where he lives on Greenwich Street.
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DNAinfo/Danielle Tcholakian

"You know what I wanted to say in court yesterday?" Tarangelo said on Thursday, one day after his court appearance. "They crossed the line when they went for the animals. They just went too far.

"It's getting to be too much. They destroyed my animal."

The DA's office declined to comment. The case against Tarangelo is ongoing.

After the ASPCA euthanized Spot, an ASPCA spokeswoman said the 15-year-old dog, which had a mast cell tumor, was suffering and needed to be put down.

But Tarangelo had taken the dog to two veterinarians in the weeks before Spot's death and none had told him Spot was critically ill, according to paperwork he provided to DNAinfo. Tarangelo had spent close to $5,000 caring for Spot, using a special credit card meant for medical expenses.

He reserves the card exclusively for the care of Spot and Pickles, Spot's offspring, he said.

The ASPCA spokeswoman who first told DNAinfo that the agency euthanized Spot said she had no intention of telling Tarangelo, citing the pending criminal proceedings.

Tarangelo was issued a desk appearance ticket by the NYPD for the animal cruelty charge on Aug. 8, after police received calls expressing concern about Spot's condition. The dog had a bloody wound on its back, but that's how mast cell tumors typically appear, though they are rarely fatal or painful, vets said.

In court on Wednesday, Tarangelo refused to accept prosecutors' offer that, if he agreed to be barred from owning animals for a year and serve five days of community service, the charge would be dropped to a violation. That would mean giving up Pickles.

His next court date is Nov. 20.

Tarangelo's friends worry about what would happen if he were to lose his last remaining dog.

"He won't live without his dog," said Lynn Pacifico, a Village resident who lobbies to save dogs from being euthanized in shelters. "He loves those dogs so much."

Tarangelo has owned dogs since he was 20 years old, he said. In 1999, his dog got out of the home where he lived on Staten Island and drowned. Tarangelo went into a depression — until he adopted Spot from the North Shore Animal League later that year, he said.

"It took me a lot to get over that," he said, recalling the exact date of his dog's death. "It was June 11, 1999."

Frustrated at having to go to court at all, Tarangelo said he is sticking to it with one goal in mind.

"I want Spot's body back," he said.