Gansevoort man admits to abandoning cat outside shelter, receives fine

The owner of a local deli has admitted to abandoning a cat outside an animal shelter and was ordered to pay a fine.

Anthony Gargano, 49, of Gansevoort pleaded guilty in Milton Town Court on Tuesday to one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, according to the Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office. 

Gargano, who owns the Spring Street Deli & Pizzeria, had left the cat outside the Saratoga County Animal Shelter on the night of Jan. 4. The neighborhood cat, named Kane, had often stopped at his restaurant for treats.

About two dozen people searched the area outside the Saratoga County Animal Shelter on the afternoon of Feb. 2. The cat has not been found.

Gargano was fined around $750. He is also prohibited owning animals for 50 years.

“It is ironic that defendant Gargano left Kane the cat without shelter outside the County’s Animal Shelter where animals are cared for, but did so after hours when no one was present to receive the cat on a cold winter night,” District Attorney Karen Heggen said in a statement.