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Syracuse police have announced an arrest in connection with the abuse of this dog.

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse man accused of starving a pitbull was charged Monday, Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler announced at a news conference.

Sean Figueroa

Sean Figueroa, 42, of 131 Rider Ave., was charged with animal cruelty failure to provide proper sustenance, a misdemeanor.

Figueroa is accused of not feeding the adult pitbull, who has been named Patrick, a red-nosed pitbull found days after St. Patrick's Day, police said.

A neighbor called animal control after finding a pitbull "extremely emaciated" Friday morning at the corner of Rider and Stolp avenues, Fowler said.

"(The neighbor) noticed it was in a state where it wasn't going to survive much longer so they called animal control," Syracuse Police Officer Rebecca Thompson said at the news conference.

Animal control brought Patrick the pitbull to DeWitt Animal Hospital, where he weighed 25 pounds, far less than what he should have weighed, police said.

Thompson, who led the animal cruelty investigation, said she received tips from the public and interviewed Figueroa, a suspect in a previous animal cruelty investigation. In that case, Thompson said a neighbor called police in January to report Figueroa was not properly taking care of a dog who was starving. Figueroa surrendered that dog to the city of Syracuse and was not charged, Thompson said.

"It wasn't to the point where I could prove he was intentionally starving the dog so instead of having it back and really starving it, he surrendered it," Thompson said.

The officer said she was unaware of Patrick the pitbull living with Figueroa at that time. After receiving tips and investigating, Thompson questioned Figueroa, who admitted Monday that he had not been feeding the animal, Fowler said. Thompson said the dog had not had anything to eat in at least two weeks, and likely was starved longer.

"He didn't have anything in his system so it was at least a couple weeks of having absolutely nothing," Thompson said, "but this starvation went on for months."

Figueroa was sent to the Onondaga County jail and will be held there until his arraignment Tuesday morning.

Patrick the pitbull has gained 4 pounds since arriving at the animal hospital, Thompson said Monday afternoon. He will remain there until he can recover and eventually "find a happy home for him," Fowler said.