Please help us get a felony sentence for Anthony Appolonia.

ALERT! "Free to good home" animals tortured & killed!
Body: Aberdeen - "Free to good home" cats and kittens, tortured and killed.
December 29, 2007 : 9:49 PM

The horrifying animal abuse case in Aberdeen in which a man admitted killing at least 14 cats and kittens should make pet owners properly skittish about giving their pets up for adoption to strangers.

Mr. Anthony Appolonia, 48, has been charged with Animal Cruelty. The investigation found that he was able to convince at least 22 cat owners that he would be able to provide a safe environment for their cats after he answered their %u201DFree to a good home%u201D ads. Further investigation showed that once he was in possession of the adopted cats and kittens he then tortured these defenseless creatures.

He would torture these cats by beating them, breaking their bones and then leaving them to suffer for up to a day before he ended their lives by drowning them. Mr. Appolonia told investigators that eight other cats that have been traced to him actually ran away. Investigators are not as sure about his statement about the eight. They believe that he may have killed them and many more cats as well.

Monmouth County SPCA Police Chief Victor Amato says that this is not something he just woke up and started doing the other day. One Lakewood, NJ women who was interviewed said that she had spent 2 hours with Mr. Appolonia earlier in December prior to turning her kitten over to him. She had spent over $400.00 in Vet care prior to turning the kitten over to him. This kitten is one of the eight he claims to have run away.

Many people turn over cats, dogs, ferrets, rabbits, birds and many other animals to another person free of charge and may never know what happens to this animal afterwards. A lot of times, these people who take a %u201Cfree%u201D animal, will turn around and sell the animal off to testing labs for a profit as they didn%u2019t pay a fee for the animal. Many companies have testing labs that will do heinous tests to see how cosmetics, auto fluids, drugs, etc. will affect an animal. This helps these companies see what so called affects it will have on humans or so these companies say.

If you don't have the time or inclination to fully investigate the background of the person or persons seeking to adopt, turn the pet over to a local animal shelter. Animal shelters and rescue groups have the means to do the proper background checks, home checks and have an adoption fee. This covers the cost of the adoption but is also a great deterrent to keep people like Mr. Appolonia away from kittens, cats, dogs, etc.

The story can be found here:
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071228/OPINI

ON01/712280338/1029/OPINION

How you can help:

PLEASE CONTACT (POLITELY) THE PROSECUTOR. Urge that they charge Anthony Appolonia with every applicable felony charge, and that they seek maximum jail time and fines. Under NO circumstances should Appolonia be offered Pre-Trial Intervention. This was a heinous, violent crime. In addition to the danger he poses to animals, he clearly also poses a danger to the community.

CONTACT:
Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office
Luis A. Valentin, Esq., Prosecutor
71 Monument Park
Freehold, NJ 07728-1789
Fax: 732-409-3673
prosecutor@prosecutor.co.monmouth.nj.us