RVC's houses from 'hell'

Twice last week, authorities discovered neglected animals inside dilapidated Rockville Centre homes. The second discovery was by far the worst.

At 14 Montauk Ave., Faith Ross, 54, and her daughter, Francesca Maselli, 23, had been living in a two-family, filth-ridden home where village officials found 16 dehydrated, sickly animals — 14 dogs and two cats — covered in urine and feces. The home was cluttered with cages and piles of animal waste that officials said were 2 feet deep.

But what made the scene even more shocking were the dead animals inside. Engineers from the Building Department, village police and firefighters and Town of Hempstead animal control officers called to the scene on Jan. 14 discovered the carcasses of 24 animals — six dogs, seven cats, five parrots, five ferrets and one lizard. Two of the skeletal remains of dead dogs still had muzzles on their mouths, and live animals were found in cages with decomposing carcasses.

“I cannot understand how or why someone would treat an innocent animal in this way,” said Police Commissioner Charles Gennario.

Ross and Maselli, who have rented the home for the past 17 years, were arraigned last Saturday in Nassau County First District Court in Hempstead. They pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and 15 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. Each was held on $95,000 cash bail or $190,000 bond. If convicted, the two could face up to two years in prison.

“The people who did this are sick and evil,” said Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray who described the home as “a living hell.”

Some Montauk Avenue residents declined to comment, but others insisted they hardly knew the women. Their next-door neighbor, Susan Jacob, a cat owner, admitted that she knew little about them.

“How do you not ask for help?” Jacob said of the pair. “The fact that there were two of them in that home and they couldn’t get help is awful … I can’t imagine having that many animals.”

Janet Hyland, who lives on nearby Purdy Court, said, “I’m not sure if these people were evil or sick or both. It’s tough for me to make a judgment.”