Crime & Safety
SPCA: Woman Who Threw Dog Out of Car Arrested
Josephine Rivera, of Mastic, is arrested Monday following incident last month.
A Mastic woman faces an animal cruelty charge after being arrested Monday for allegedly throwing her dog from her car and leaving it at a gas station last month, according to Suffolk County SPCA officials.
Josephine Rivera faces a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to a year in prison on the misdemeanor abandonment charge.
SPCA Chief Roy Gross said Monday that Rivera's small poodle frantically ran around Rivera's car trying to get back in after Rivera dumped the dog in front of an Exxon gas station on Montauk Highway and then drove off in Mastic on June 23. Several children were in Rivera's car when the dog was tossed out, according to witnesses.
Gross said a $2,000 reward offered resulted to tips leading to Rivera's arrest.
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