ONE SICK PUPPY
Vile L.I. man charged with torturing and fatally beating 2 adopted dogs
A sadistic Long Island man promised a home for three adorable puppies — and instead took the pets to hell.
Unemployed Ellie Knoller, 29, brutally pummeled a pair of defenseless 3-month-old dogs, leaving the four-legged victims with organ damage so severe that both died of internal bleeding, authorities charged Wednesday.
Knoller was also charged with savagely beating a third helpless puppy who survived despite fractured ribs, a broken leg and bruising to the lungs, said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. The pets were all acquired and assaulted within a horrifying threeweek stretch in February.
“These animals can’t testify about the unconscionable suffering that they endured, but their blunt force and neck trauma injuries tell a gruesome story,” said Singas. “… I don’t know why this happened, and unfortunately the dogs can’t tell us. Maybe there are anger issues. Maybe it’s some kind of sick sport. I really couldn’t tell you.”
Knoller was charged with three counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and three more of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals, according to a newly unsealed indictment. His newlywed wife, 30year-old Jessica Knoller, was accused of ignoring the surviving dog for 15 hours before finally taking the badly battered goldendoodle puppy named Bella to a veterinarian.
The adorable dog was “practically beaten to death,” said Gary Rogers, president of the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “It’s difficult to imagine who could harm such a sweet little dog, but that is what happened to Bella.”
The cruel couple left the Mineola, L.I., courthouse without comment after entering pleas of not guilty to the heinous crimes. Defense attorneys claimed all three of the dogs simply became sick after the Knollers brought the puppies home.
“He’s denied this from the get-go,” said Greg Madey, representing Ellie Knoller. “They’re horrible accusations, but [it’s] just as bad to be charged with something like this. They’re upset.”
Authorities described the husband as a monster who treated the new pets like furry punching bags.
The Knollers first adopted 3-month-old Tucker on Feb. 8 from the Long Island-based North Shore Animal League, the world’s largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization. Authorities blamed blunt-force trauma inflicted by Ellie Knoller for a ruptured kidney that led to Tucker’s fatal internal bleeding a mere nine days after the shepherd mix’s adoption.
The day after Tucker’s brutal death, the Mineola couple bought a puppy from a Pennsylvania breeder, a brown goldendoodle who survived two days with his new owners. The doomed dog, named Cooper, suffered a lacerated liver from the same type of lethal trauma inflicted on Tucker, officials said.
The remorseless couple then returned to the Keystone State breeder and picked up Bella after complaining that Cooper had unexpectedly died. The two puppies were siblings from the same litter.
According to Singas, Bella needed surgery that included the insertion of a metal rod and a steel plate to repair the broken leg bone. The dog is currently in SPCA custody as evidence in the case, although the suspects refused to give up custody of the dog.
If convicted, Ellie Knoller faces a maximum of two years in prison while his wife could face a year behind bars. The couple, released without bail, is due back in court June 3. If acquitted, the defendants could actually receive custody of their stillrecovering pet.