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Deport Shar-Pei killer from country: Vallone

By Rebecca Henely

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) launched a letter-writing campaign last week urging residents to demand that an Astoria resident who threw his dog out the window be deported.

“I want Immigration [and Customs Enforcement] to know how the community feels,” Vallone said.

Milan Rysa, 31, tossed Brooklyn, his Chinese Shar-Pei, out of his third-story apartment, at 30-59 Steinway St. in Astoria. Authorities found the dog dead outside the apartment Sept. 12, 2011, and took Rysa to Elmhurst Hospital Center for psychiatric evaluation. He eventually pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment March 15 and was given a sentence of 364 days in prison.

Vallone said Rysa is now out on bond having served two-thirds of the sentence, but as an undocumented immigrant, he now faces deportation to the Czech Republic. Rysa may be appearing in court in May, Vallone said.

The councilman began a letter-writing campaign on his Facebook page, urging residents to write to ICE and sign an online petition in favor of Rysa’s deportation. Vallone said the petition has 270 signatures and his Facebook post had one of the highest number of comments for any of his posts.

“What he did to this dog was vicious and he had a pretty bad history in his building,” Vallone said, referring to neighborhood reports that Rysa had mistreated his dog before killing it. “There really is no excuse to allow him to come back and live anywhere in Queens.”

Rysa’s heartless act attracted the attention early on of Sloane Quealy-Miner, a Manhattan animal rescuer and rights activist who runs the blog BSL News, which advocates for pitbulls. She and another animal rights activist, Christine Drakatos, of Astoria, held a vigil for Brooklyn outside Rysa’s apartment shortly after the dog’s death.

Quealy-Miner said she wants to see Rysa deported, but was still upset that Rysa was able to plead to a lesser charge and was not convicted of animal cruelty.

“My whole feeling is that there’s no justice for these animals and these laws need to be changed,” Quealy-Miner said.

She said she expected Rysa would continue to abuse animals in his home country.

“He’s not going to change,” Quealy-Miner said. “Granted, he’s out of our backyard, but what is he doing over there?”

ICE can be reached at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations, 26 Federal Plaza, 9th Floor, Suite 9-110, New York, NY 10278.

Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 718-260-4564.