Animal control officer accused of animal cruelty, cutting fawn’s throat

The man normally responsible for the humane care and control of animals in parts of Northern New Jersey is being accused of animal cruelty — after allegedly cutting an injured fawn's throat.

Animal Control Officer and Animal Cruelty Investigator (ACI), Vincent Ascolese, 48, of Edgewater was charged with 14 counts of animal cruelty by the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the group announced Friday.

Ascolese is the director and supervising animal control officer for North Jersey Humane Society Shelter in Bloomfield, and the director at the Bergen County Protection and Rescue Shelter in Cliffside Park. Both shelters provide animal control services in multiple jurisdictions in Bergen and Essex Counties, the NJSPCA said.

Ascolese allegedly euthanized an injured fawn by method of exsanguination with a knife, by cutting the fawn's throat.  Exsanguination is not an approved method of euthanasia in the State of New Jersey, the NJSPCA said.

He was charged with "needlessly killing a living animal and "failure to provide necessary care" in addition to several counts of cruelty to animals at the North Jersey Humane Society Shelter in Bloomfield for allegedly failing to provide proper shelter, food and necessary care.

He is due in Bloomfield Municipal Court Oct. 14 on the charges