Two Tiverton residents charged after death of pet cat

Two Tiverton residents are facing disturbing charges.

According to a Tiverton Police report, on 12/23/2024 Officer Jordan DaSilva was informed by Lt Huber that he was being assigned a case that had been initiated by Animal Control Officer Sartini on 12/17/2024 in regard to a deceased cat found inside the apartment of 62 Main Rd 2nd floor.

According to Sartini, she had been contacted by Fall River Property Management and was informed that an employee at the property when going to check on its status in regard to the tenants when he observed a foul odor leading him to the discovery of a deceased cat.

Officer DeCosta had responded to this address approximately 5 weeks earlier for the report of an abandoned dog identified as (Philly) that was barking throughout the day and whimpering during the night. After multiple calls by Officer Decosta and ACO Sartini, they were able to get the tenant of the apartment, Monica Velozo, to remove the dog from the home. 62 Main Rd was vacant at this time.

An enclosed cat litter box was located that had the remains of a cat which appeared to be severely emaciated. ACO Sartini took possession of the cat and returned it to Tiverton Police headquarters where photos were taken. Shortly after retrieving the animal’s carcass, ACO Sartini conducted an open-source social media query into the previous tenant Monica Velozo which revealed a post on her account looking for their missing cat “Zeke” from an unidentified date. Zeke is described as a fully intact domestic short hair male feline with the following features.  Slender grey, black and light brown with white front and rear paws.  

On 12/20/2024 ACO Sartini transported the deceased cat to Potters League to be evaluated. On 12/23/2024 an evaluation was completed which indicated that cat had a body rating of I-emaciated and indicated the bones of spine, hips and ribs to be “extremely prominent” and Zeke exhibited no body fat or muscle and extreme emaciation around the abdominal area.  

During the course of her preliminary investigation, ACO Sartini went to speak with Veloza at her new address. Velozo’s daughter answered the door and was asked the whereabouts of Zeke to which she stated that they had turned Zeke in to Forever Paws animal shelter in Fall River MA. Once back at Police HQ ACO Sartini subsequently called Forever Paws and inquired into Zeke to which she was informed that a cat matching that description had not been turned in.  

Officer DaSilva conducted a basic search of the residents located at 62 Main Rd which included Juan Amalla and Monica Velozo. The owner of Fall River Property Management informed the officer that Amalia and Velozo were his tenants and that he was currently in the process of evicting them. He then provided police with a copy of the lease via email which indicates in handwriting there to be 1 cat and 1 dog on the lease.  

Officer DaSilva then also called Forever Paws and spoke with the Director to search all three tenants of the unit by name and Zeke by description to see if he had been turned over to them.

It was indicated that none of the names were in her database and furthermore Forever Paws does not accept cats from Rhode Island as a matter of policy also if a cat is turned over to her, they provide documentation to the person who surrenders the animal to prove that they are now in possession.  

After investigating and interviewing the pair, on 01/09/2025 officers were greeted by Juan Amalla in the police lobby, who had an active warrant.  Officers advised Amalla to grab bail money for himself and Monica Velozo. Officers escorted Amalla to the booking room where he was fingerprinted, photographed, and all necessary information was gathered. Amalla was escorted into cell #2 for the duration of his stay.  

Monica Velozo was charged with Unnecessary Cruelty to Animals-Death-1st Offense and Abandonment of Animal-1st Offense.