Courthouse Crowd: Protesters Demand Felony Conviction for Yorkie Killer

For Immediate Release:
August 6, 2024

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

“Reconsider!” That’s the message that members of PETA and Humane Long Island as well as friends and representatives of the family of a Yorkie named Mocha—who was kicked to death—will send to Judge Howard Sturim on Wednesday after he overturned a jury’s felony conviction of the local man who killed the dog. The defendant, Peter Galantino, kicked the 4-pound, 9-year-old dog into the air so violently that she sustained a damaged liver, massive internal bleeding, two skull fractures, and three rib fractures; suffered five heart attacks; and had to be euthanized due to the severity of her injuries. The protesters will gather at the Nassau County Court House ahead of Galantino’s sentencing on August 15 holding posters showing Mocha and urging Sturim to reinstate the felony cruelty-to-animals conviction.

Galantino kicked Mocha during a neighborhood argument with her family, reportedly sparked by his failure to clean up after his own dog. A jury convicted him of Aggravated Cruelty to Animals (a class E felony); Overdriving, Torturing, and Injuring Animals (a class A misdemeanor); and Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree (a class A misdemeanor) before Sturim overturned the felony conviction.

“This tiny senior dog never stood a chance against a grown man with a bad temper whose reaction to a silly squabble was to kick her so violently that she sustained deadly internal injuries and broken bones,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. “Mocha’s killer deserves more than a slap on the wrist, and PETA is calling on Judge Sturim to rightly reinstate the jury’s verdict of felony cruelty against this bully.”

“Mocha was deeply beloved by her family, and they feel her loss profoundly,” says Jerelyn Kirby, Mocha’s family’s representative. “We’re all asking Judge Sturim to do the right thing in this case—because if what Peter Galantino did to Mocha isn’t worthy of a felony cruelty-to-animals conviction, then we don’t know what is.”

Where: Nassau County Court House, 262 Old Country Rd. (between County Seat Drive and Washington Avenue), Mineola

When: Wednesday, August 7, 12 noon

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.