3 Facing Animal Cruelty Charges In East Providence

EAST PROVIDENCE, RI — East Providence police arrested three people on animal cruelty charges Monday.

Police said the arrests stemmed from an Aug. 25 call about a dog being left outside in a kennel at Sunset Auto Spa on Taunton Avenue. The caller told police the dog was "not doing well," as it was 90 degrees outside. When officers arrived, they found a black, tan, white bull dog-pit bull mix named Primo, coughing, having trouble breathing and suffering from a skin infection. Animal control officers brought Primo to a veterinarian for treatment.

According to police, the dog's owners, Kayla Card and William Pagliarini, both of Johnston, went out of town and left the dog at the spa in the care of employee Scott Corbin, of Providence. Police said Card and Pagliarini also did not seek adequate veterinary care for the Primo's skin infection, which the dog had been suffering from for some time.

All three were arrested Monday and face the following charges:

• Mistreatment of animals
• Unnecessary cruelty to animals
• Dog outside when the ambient temperature is too hot
• Failure to provide a dog with adequate veterinary care

Police said Primo's skin condition has improved by about 50 percent, but the dog still needs several more weeks of treatment.

This wasn't Card's first arrest on animal related charges. In May 2018, she was accused of running an unlicensed dog ear cropping business at the same spa. In May 2019, she was arrested again, when police said she refused to surrender her dogs to the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.