Andrea Rosebrock 
UPDATE 12/21/09 – $100K Bail, 42 Dead & Tortured Animals
Our favorite animal advocate groups, Rescue Ink, helped uncover a gruesome case of animal torture and killing on Long Island this past Saturday. This case is truly heinous.
The group, acting on a call to their tip line, made a trip to Selden, Long Island to check on a home where animals were being mistreated.
What they found were malnourished dogs in cages, all of them “skin and bones”. What was even worse was one of the boys that lived there, 21-year-old Doug McDonough, was the one who called Rescue Ink. He claimed his mother, Sharon McDonough, 43, was torturing animals, killing them and burying them in their yard. Even soliciting the help of her own children in finding the animals and bringing them home to their deaths.
Rescue Ink called the SPCA, who found the bones from as many as 20 animals buried in the back yard. Neighbors believe the bones belong to pets that have been disappearing from the neighborhood.
Sharon McDonough had some of her 7 children hold the animals for her while she tortured them. Doug, her eldest son, described their home as “a concentration camp for the animals,” as well as for him and his sisters.
The 5 dogs, as well as a cat, a bird and a hamster, were removed by animal control and her children are in protective custody.
This is truly one of the most disturbing, disgusting things I have ever come across. A mother, raising 7 children, has them bring home animals so they can be tortured? She is raising a future generation that will think nothing of snuffing the life out of an animal. And if that doesn’t satisfy them, their next targets could be humans!
Decades of evidence show that a child’s attitude toward animals can predict future behavior. According to published reports, in every highly publicized school shooting, one warning sign appeared consistently: All the young killers abused or killed animals before turning on their classmates. Cruelty to animals is considered one of three symptoms that predict the development of a psychopath. Just ask the FBI, psychiatrists and psychologists, and law enforcement. People who hurt animals may eventually direct violence toward humans.
And this *mother* was holding classroom training on it.
So Sharon McDonough is now charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty. Felony animal cruelty charges, and child abuse charges are being considered. This is a sick, sick, depraved individual. I hope these kids, including the adult ones, get serious mental health treatment. Thank God for the 21-year-old son who decided “enough was enough”.
And Thank God he had the good sense to call Rescue Ink. When they walk into town, everybody notices. When they speak, people listen. And when they call the authorities, stuff happens.
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This is absolutely horrifying! How in the world could this happen and for so long. Didn’t the neighbors hear the screams of these poor animals? This sick bitch needs to rot in jail.
She probably taped there mouths shut. Let’s not forget the children who are being forced to participate.
nasty bitch, I wonder too Brittany, where were the people? don’t we know, how many don’t respond to screams of any kind. thanks a lot to people turning their eyes from the horror, there had to be some evidence, did she live in the boonies? looks like a sidewalk in the pic to me. I hear feral cats calling to each other in the wooded lot behind my house!
Sick bitch , hang the bastard
Child abuse charges are being considered. Considered, No this is a clear case of child abuse. Teaching your child to steel pets from another and then holding them down so Mom can torture the pets, sorry, that is cut and dry child abuse. I feel for the children and the defenseless animals she has murdered. You can see the evil in her eyes. This woman knows the difference between right and wrong and at her age there is no excuse whether it be a poor upbringing or an abusive relationship herself, WRONG is WRONG and she needs to pay for her crime and receive extreme help mentally.
Then people wonder where the serial killer come from great gene pool I’d say that needs to be stopped. This so called personaka scum bag, needs to hung I’d be glad to bring the rope just point me a good tree. There’s no help for these kind of thingsat all Give me about 5 hours to get there… Rescue Ink is great and would love to be part since I’m in upstate NY my door is open to any dog…
don’t forget 2 pick me up on the way, KatrinaB. i just bought a new rope, i’ll bring that with. then we can take turns “holding her down”….o i’ve also got some Gorilla Glue duct tape.
Thank you Rescue Ink, too late for some, but finally over for the future & present victims of abuse. A mother forcing her children into this? She has abused and violated them beyond comprehension.
I hope that they can rise above the witnessed acts and have some semblance of normal lives.
Look at that mug. Those eyes are empty sockets! Death is too good for her. WTF!! She is a demented monster. Thank goodness the 21 year old called Rescue Ink. She needs to suffer 100000000x the pain that she has inflicted on all of these innocent victims. What a sick POS bitch. I would love to get my hands on her. She would never forget me!
Unreal, the helpless just keep getting abused over and over. Althoug I hope that the kids do not follow in her footsteps it is likely that they will and that makes me so sad and scared for future animals that may cross paths with them.
with Douglas there 2 help they may just go “the other way”…n b like our rescuers…..who knows, they may just change the way abused, tortured, murdered n neglected animals r “dealt” with. the “noise” just may b 2 much that the world just might look at it….o jeeeeez, i’m gonna shut up cuz i’m rattling now…
This is unbelievable! The woman needs to be locked up forever or sent to the “island” where some animal lovers can take care of her. At least her kids have a chance to be rehabilitated, and I am so thankful her son had the courage to make the call. Let’s hope that her punishment does not include doing community service in an animal shelter! Please get her a judge that will ensure this never happens again. RIP poor tortured souls.
What a horrid individual she is. What kind of a monster ilicit her children to follow her evil deeds. At least her son had enough courage to talk and to turn in his own mother it must have been so very difficult for him. All those poor animals but the children are victims of hers as well.I am pleased that she was found out and will be dealt with. I am sure those poor dogs will find loving homes after their ordeal. People tend to line up to help dogs from violent abuse cases. I hope someone extends their hands to those children as well. They need a lot of help and her son poor kid twentyone years and having to turn your own mother in. This is such a heartbreaking case. I have no more words.
I sure hope the neighbors keep their pets under lock and key, they actually let this sicko out of jail. Wow, makes you wonder how justice works – thank you to her son, rescue ink and the caretakers of the rescued dogs at least they will be happy and rehabilitated and off to good homes. I hope we’ll be able to find out the final charges of this nut.
that sick ass bitch, may she rot in hell forever.
Hi group that is one sick bitch what could make a person
do this and the kids god help them you know if one of the
children would not have help they most likely would have
been next no doubt in my mind and I love that new show did they not start with 5 guys now i see they say 8 am I wrong thanks for reading …………
What she did to the animals needs to be her punishment. I hope all the children get the help they need to deal with having a monster for a mother. And what has to be considered on the felony charges? Wasn’t the evidence enough to justify felony charges? If she gets by with just misdeanor charges then they will probably give her kids back to her, then she will disappear into the wind and carry on her very ugly legacy elsewhere. She needs some serious jail time. And all her neighbors needs to sue her for the loss of their pets. I truly wish what she did to all those poor animals could be done to her but that would be “cruel and inhumane”. I was going to say she was more animal than the poor ones that she tortured and abused but that would be insulting to them, she is just an inhuman monster.
As a survivor of being a child who was forced to participate, the effect for me was a heightened awareness that animals suffer and feel pain.It took years and lots of therapy for it to come out, but for me the end result was becoming the animal advocate I am. These children are not necessarily now programmed for cruelty to animals. They will need help and education on proper treatment for animals, however. And lots of therapy.
I’m so sorry for what you must have gone through and so glad you came out of that horror with more empathy than many people. It’s great that you had the strength and courage to work though it all and come out whole on the other side.
I too was subject to the same sort of thing as a child although I was never forced to participate. I was forced to watch it happen every day and was completely helpless to stop it. It feels like I participated even though my hands were not involved. But I too grew up with a very strong empathy for animals and their suffering and it is why I too am an advocate today. Not every child forced to participate or witness animal cruelty day after day will grow up thinking it’s okay. I knew in my heart from the very first time I saw and heard it that this was definitely not okay.
i rather like the “eye for an eye” concept…..she is pure evil, criminally insane sub-human…..i hope she gets tossed into a small, dank cell to die….and her poor kids, only serious therapy will have a hope of setting them on the right path…i am soooooooo angry with that f b—h..ewwww..angry..
There should not even be any need for “Consideration” of the charges. Unless of course it is for the number of years, she should be locked up. Hopefully, what the comment refers to is that the prosecutor’s office is having to review all of the evidence to determine just how many and how serious chrages can be made agains her. If I recall correctly, NY is one of the states where it is the prosecutor’s office that not only is part of the investigation from the start but also brings the charges. And as others have said, what about the neighbors, this looks like a neighborhood that is populated and not some, barren rural area where there is no one around.
And Doni is right, there is hope and lots of it for the children. Just consider the courage it took for the son the make this call.
This shows that word about Rescue Ink is getting out there, and where this son might have been reticent to call the ACC or the SPCA, he felt comfortable in calling our favorite “bag guys” at Rescue Ink. Thank God he did. The children are going to need some intense counseling. Some may end up like the eldest and Doni, above, as the polar opposite of their mother and become advocates for animals. But others may be at an age where this has desensitized them to the suffering of other sentient beings. Either way, the horror alone screams that they need professional counseling to deal with it all.
I truly feel for the neighbors who have lost their beloved furry family members to this monster. Does Long Island have any felony animal cruelty laws, or are they like so many other places where it’s misdemeanor slap on the wrist laws? She needs felonies on each and every hair on the bodies of those precious babies. How can there even be a question of child abuse. It’s one of the worst kinds…..teaching children to torture and murder living beings.
Lord, this world is going to hell in a handbasket. Thank you to Rescue Ink for blowing the lid off of this!! These guys are the absolute BEST!
Hi Bonnie
At least NY has State Animmal Cruelt Laws as Felonies on the books….here is the Law# and Basic info:
New York, Article 26, Chapter 353 & 353-a
Cruelty: Fine up to $1000, imprisonment up to 1 year.
Aggravated Cruelty: Fine up to $5000, imprisonment up to 5 years.
NOW let’s just hope that whatever prosecutor’s office is in charge sees this as the cruelty that it really is, and that it is Aggravated and is a real go getter and pushes for the maximum. Of course she will likely get some defense lawyer who tells her “sad story” and claims sje is just “not well”.
Yeah. That could be the case. Also in the news reports now is that she lost her husband to a motor vehicle accident last year and neighbors have reported her as a little *off* since then.
This is a little OFF?
I can see the insanity plea coming.
You are so right!! Insanity here I come. Hope they go the extra mile on this, have a good vet and necropsy specialist check the remains of the 20 or so animals buried to see if the are all post husband’s demise. At 20 plus, “her little off” must have started the day of the funeral. What a crock.
Also sounds to me, that the neighbors may be trying to absolve themselves a bit for why they were not more aware of what was going on. If she is just a “little off” so was Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahlmer. Hey, maybe Michale Vick is just a “little off”. Bah Humbug
Raves for Rescue Ink! I love those guys, I”m so glad the son had the courage to step up and call them. I’m sorry for the neighbors who lost animals, what a nightmare. I do wish people would step forward faster though, although I know from sad experience that calling the authorities can be totally useless unless you have hard evidence, and sometimes even then.
This needs to be send to every animal lover we know! We need to keep up to date with this….write to everyone involved (DA, Judge, etc.). This BEAST needs to be prosecuted to the FULLEST extent. Abusing animals AND children?? The lowest of the low! I am sooo sick after reading this.
Does anyone have any contact info so we can bombard them with emails, letters, phone calls??
Tho’ hard to read and see, thank you for posting this.
This is horrible! Thank goodness the oldest son came out of the closet and turned that monster in! I hope those kids get the help they need to realize that animals are living breathing creatures with feelings…….Pawz up, Ice
that was a lovely statement Doni, I was a victim of abuse along with many sibs, and we all broke that cycle. anyone can, they just need to face life and not try to justify their hatred.
thank God her son stood up for those poor souls! those kids will never be who they should be though, violence takes a toll in some way, it always does, it’s crippling even if people can’t see it. pray for them all friends.
This story really bothered me at work ,I still do not know why her son did not do something sooner , he is in his 20’s ?Mother or not , this scum should have been stopped a long time ago . Why is it always later than sooner
she must’ve had this boy scared 2 death….she more than likely had them all ‘warned’ 2 keep their mouths shut or they’d get the same.
my father was an abuser all of my life n he did stuff like this. i was beaten n abused in any way he could think of. i left home at the age of 18 n never spoke him till i was nearly 50. i can’t even remember how many animals he abused, tortured n killed. so, Terry, give him a break…he DID come thru. at least, he stopped her from doing it again. let’s hope she gets put away for a VERY LONG TIME…n all the “ladies” will “take care” of her. i pray that NONE of these kids take after their mother. Douglas is a role model for them……
Hopefully she will go to a mental institution and will be assulted and tortured by her fellow crazies. I always beleive evil will come back to evil for satisfaction.
Here is a link to news video with our favorite guys, Rescue Ink, standing up for the kids and their efforts to get help. It seems the SPCA ignored them!
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=7108731
Also, I saw another piece of the news interview with the oldest son, and it that one he was defeding his family! He was saying that they didn’t steal anyone’s pets and that everyone is lying. Good grief. Is he now going to turn tail on this?
The Rescue Ink guys were GREAT in really slamming out the point that there are 6 little girls involved here, and that the pleas for help went unheeded. The SPCA had to admit that it was Rescue Ink that got them involved. Another dropped ball and the cost of how many additional precious lives??
I too like the eye-for-an-eye concept to punish this skank. Long drawn out torture coupled with starvation would IMHO be appropriate. Ya gotta wonder though about the brain screws loose here, I sure don’t think it “started after her husband died” these biologicalunits (they are NOT human)are born psychopathically evil. If it were me on the “detective detail” I’d sure be checking on how the husband died such as what “interesting” things were going on with the car (news reports said MVA fatality for the husband). Brakeline cuts aren’t the only thing that can be easily done to make sure someone loses control of a car at any kind of speed. Just sayin’….
so did she show up in court on Tuesday?
She was ordered by a family court judge to undergo psychiatric evaluation. Her seven children were instructed to receive therapy and were turned over to foster care and relatives. She goes back to court on December 7th after the psych eval is done.
Thanks for update Andrea
Let’s hope she does not get some bleeding heart shrink who thinks everyone who does anything wrong is not mentally sound and therefore, not responsible, and let’s hope NY is one of those states that very narrowly defines NOT COMPETENT.
Okay D, I’ll try again. Seems I am unable to comment any longer. Hope I didn’t offend you to a point of taking me out.
First off…thank you to Rescue Inc. for taking care of this and bring it to a close. Great job.
Don’t know what to say about that inhuman thing that did these horrendous acts! Except one thing…..”she should have been fixed when she was born” and sorry she was born at all. I hope her children can pull out of this….sad, very, very sad!
Jess, of course not!! Don’t know what happened. Hope everything’s okay now.
D.
I didn’t realize these guys had just a good rep until now and watching their show. I’m just hearing about it now because their show just came out now. I wish I could win the lottery, because they would get big bucks and so would the other rescue groups in my area.
These guys will make a big difference along with the other groups that are out there!.
I hope this woman gets long time jail. When Michael Vick got 2 years she should get 20 years, because of the harm she did to her children.
This Psycho Bitch was named n shamed and her address is Public those animals will get Justice one way or another shes hated and has lots of enemies I feel bad for the children whom endured her sick Evil twisted game I’d like to start reading headlines that say Cruella of NY found dead or a couple who tortured animals found hung up or 2-kids who thought it was funny to blow apart cats with fire crackers found burned with acid ya know all we hear about is animal abuse well maybe Civilized people will turn into animals to seek real Justice for these animals – sick frigan people these days I personally wouldnt care about any of these jerks (Karma)to em all -
I wish after reading this again that she could be punished in a horrible method of which I have several idea’s none of which I suppose I should write down. I think we should revert back to public whipping and other methods used long ago!