ASPCA Arrests Manager of Brooklyn Dog Boarding Facility

NEW YORK—Humane Law Enforcement agents of the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) have arrested Mathew Soto, co-owner and day-to-day manager of a Brooklyn dog boarding and day care facility called "Bark and Play." Soto is charged with four counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty.

ASPCA HLE agents discovered that numerous dogs boarded at the facility were living in unsanitary conditions, which included excessive urine and feces and extremely poor ventilation during very hot June weather.

Two of the dogs, named Tango and Sweets, pit bull mixes, are at the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital under the care of Dr. Robert Reisman, medical coordinator of animal abuse cases for the ASPCA. The dogs were emaciated and suffered from a variety of maladies caused by neglect including urine burns.

Stated the ASPCA’s Vice President of Chief Legal Counsel for Humane Law Enforcement, Stacy Wolf: "We understand that rescue groups would pay the facility to temporarily board dogs the rescuers hoped to eventually find homes for. However, several dogs had apparently been at the boarding facility for months."

Mr. Soto is charged with four counts of animal cruelty for neglecting to care for several dogs boarded at the facility. He faces up to two years in jail if convicted.

Since the seizure of the dogs, "Bark and Play," located in Brooklyn, has apparently closed up shop.