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Homeless Man Whose Dog Was Euthanized by ASPCA Plans to Sue

By Danielle Tcholakian | November 21, 2014 12:34pm | Updated on November 24, 2014 8:43am
 Jimmy Tarangelo and his remaining dog, Pickles outside the van where he lives on Greenwich Street. Spot was Pickles' father.
Jimmy Tarangelo and his remaining dog, Pickles outside the van where he lives on Greenwich Street. Spot was Pickles' father.
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DNAinfo/Danielle Tcholakian

CIVIC CENTER — The homeless man whose dog was secretly euthanized by the ASPCA is looking for a lawyer so he can sue.

James "Jimmy" Tarangelo's dog, Spot, was taken by the NYPD in August, after passersby complained about a bloody patch on the dog's back. Tarangelo told police that the dog had a mast cell tumor and was receiving veterinary care, but police charged him with cruelty to animals and turned Spot over to the ASPCA, which euthanized the dog without telling Tarangelo.

Now Tarangelo wants to sue the NYPD and the ASPCA, to stop them from doing to other pet owners what they did to him and Spot.

"I'm not in it for the money," said Tarangelo, 62, who lives in his van in the West Village. "They're wrong, you know what I mean? What they're doing is wrong."

 Jimmy Tarangelo fed the birds in the park across the street from Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, after a judge told him charges against him would be dismissed as long as he stayed out of trouble for the next six months.
Jimmy Tarangelo fed the birds in the park across the street from Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, after a judge told him charges against him would be dismissed as long as he stayed out of trouble for the next six months.
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DNAinfo/Danielle Tcholakian

Tarangelo is turning his attention to a potential lawsuit after learning on Thursday that the criminal case against him was resolved. A Manhattan Criminal Court judge told Tarangelo that the animal cruelty charge will be dismissed in six months, as long as Tarangelo doesn't get arrested before then.

Tarangelo hopes to find a lawyer who is willing to work pro bono to take on the NYPD and ASPCA. He wants to act quickly, because he is concerned that the agencies are intervening unnecessarily in taking away pets from people who are caring for them.

Spot, a 15-year-old border collie mix, had seen two different veterinarians for treatment in the weeks before he was taken away from Tarangelo, and both said Spot's appetite and general behavior were normal, records show.

Tarangelo gets choked up thinking about how Spot was alone when he was euthanized.

"The poor animal don't know what's happening," he said. "They're by themselves — all they want to do is be with their master."

The ASPCA declined to comment.

An NYPD official said that the officers removed Spot from Tarangelo's care for the dog's well-being.

The ASPCA promised this week to let Tarangelo retrieve Spot's body, after some negotiations by Tarangelo's court-appointed defense attorney and the district attorney's office. Tarangelo is now trying to figure out some means of transportation to go get the body and bring it to Fifth Avenue Veterinary Specialists, an animal hospital he trusts to hold it while he works out cremation arrangements.

After Tarangelo left court on Thursday afternoon, he reminisced about the day he first met Spot at the North Shore Animal League in October 1999.

"He just came over to me," Tarangelo recalled. "I want to go back in time, but of course it's not possible. If someone told me, swim across the Hudson River, Spot's on the other side, I'd do it right now. If that would get me to see him, I'd do it right now."