Gaps in Suffolk animal abuse registry raise concerns
The registry is intended to help protect animals by identifying people convicted of animal cruelty offenses.
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Convicted animal abusers in Suffolk County are required by law to register with the county's public animal abuse registry, but a News 12 investigation found that some offenders were missing from the list, raising concerns among animal welfare advocates about the effectiveness of the system.
One of those missing names was Carlos Lauro, an Aquebogue man who has become one of Suffolk County's most notorious animal cruelty offenders.
Authorities say Lauro fatally shot two young German shepherds on his Sound Avenue property in 2023 and 2024. He pleaded guilty in January 2024 to the unjustified killing of an animal and was sentenced to one year in jail. The conviction also barred him from owning animals for 20 years.
Despite that conviction, Lauro's name was not listed on the Suffolk County animal abuse registry when News 12 checked.
"He's roaming free right now and he's not registered. He should have been registered years ago," said John Di Leonardo, executive director of Humane Long Island.
The registry is intended to help protect animals by identifying people convicted of animal cruelty offenses. Individuals listed on the registry are prohibited from owning animals, and breeders and rescue organizations are expected to review the database before placing an animal in someone's care.
Animal advocates argue that the registry can only be effective if it is maintained accurately and updated promptly.
Those concerns intensified after Lauro was arrested again in November 2025 on 12 counts of animal cruelty. According to Di Leonardo, authorities removed 50 chickens and roosters from Lauro's property following that arrest. He was convicted of animal neglect in August, and is scheduled for sentencing in December.
"Unless you look up his name online and Google him, maybe come up on a news story like this, you would never know the monster that's maybe right next door," Di Leonardo said.
Under Suffolk County law, convicted animal abusers are responsible for registering themselves. Failure to register is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and as much as one year in jail.
Lauro was not the only offender News 12 found missing from the registry.
The man convicted in the 2022 beating death of a Chihuahua mix, Peter Minichello, was also absent from the registry when News 12 checked in September.
The Suffolk County Police Department, which maintains the registry, was contacted by News 12 on Sept. 29. The following day, nine new names were added to the public database, including Minichello's.
In a statement, a police spokesperson said, "The Department is developing a program to streamline the process for updating the public-facing registry going forward."
However, Lauro's name and photograph remained absent from the registry following those updates.
For animal welfare advocates, the issue goes beyond recordkeeping.
"Animals are the most vulnerable portions of our population," Di Leonardo said. "So people who are exploiting them are very dangerous individuals."
News 12 attempted to contact Lauro for comment but was unable to reach him.
