New campaign on Long Island aimed at stopping animal abuse

MINEOLA, Long Island (WABC) -- There is a new campaign on Long Island aimed at stopping animal abuse.

All law enforcement agencies will respond to animal abuse cases to try to solve the crimes quickly.

3-year-old Kona and her pup Olivia are inseparable.

They were found last fall locked in a sweltering trailer in Wantagh along with 7 other pit bulls.

"The SPCA would have had no alternative but to euthanize these animals because the expense was unbelievable," said Gary Rogers of the Nassau SPCA.

But because of the cooperation between the Nassau SPCA, the police department and the Nassau DA, Olivia and Kona are now up for adoption.

The three agencies announced Wednesday they've signed an official agreement to work together just like this moving forward on animal abuse cases.

"When we started working together and developing this, we realized rather than using different resources and everyone overlapping we all have specialties we're going to bring to this," said Rogers.

"We're able to save more animals and bring more abusers to justice when everyone works together toward a common goal," said Nassau County DA Madeline Singas.

The agreement was put to the test just a few days ago.

Authorities seized more than 100 reptiles, many of them illegal, from a home in Carle Place.

"We were able to reach out to the police department and the SPCA and everyone met there together and worked through it and get out the animals within 8-10 hours," said Singas.

The agreement also states that the police department will assist the SPCA with high risk arrests, evidence collection and evidence analysis.

If you're interested in adopting Kona or Olivia contact the Nassau SPCA at 516-THE-SPCA.