'Troubling What I Saw,' Dogs Abused At Massapequa Grooming Shop: SPCA

MASSAPEQUA, NY — A 21-year-old man faces charges of animal cruelty after Andrew Laurendi was accused of swinging a dog over his head while working at Pawlywood in Massapequa, police said.

"I've been doing this for 40 years and this was troubling to me what I saw," Gary Rogers, Nassau County SCPA detective, told Patch.

Rogers said there is concern because attacking animals is often a precursor to more serious, violent crimes.

Rogers saw the dog groomer's surveillance video where Laurendi tossed a dog down a hallway.

"If you look at Jeffrey Dahmer, the Columbine shooters [and] other mass murderers, they started out with small animals," Rogers said.

"There [are] issues that need to be addressed to find out why he did this, and hopefully stop the cycle," Rogers said.

One immediate way to stop the cycle, Laurendi was fired from his job at Pawlywood, police said.

He had been working there since June, Rogers said.

"These are defenseless creatures," he said.

During the SPCA's investigation, they found out that Laurendi's home has two dogs, but Rogers said they were fine.

Laurendi was given an appearance ticket for Dec. 21, where he is expected to be arraigned, police said.

"We have to make sure this doesn't happen again and somewhere along the way in the court system he has to get the help that he needs," Rogers said.