Newark Woman Faces Charges for Falsely Reporting Her Own Dog as Stray at Shelter

Further investigation revealed that the dog, named Chiante, had been involved in a bite incident at the woman's residence on the same day.

A Newark woman and her mother from Canandaigua are facing misdemeanor charges after allegedly filing false reports regarding the ownership of a dog at the Ontario County Humane Society earlier this month.

According to the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office, 30-year-old Kate M. Ogdenski of Newark and her mother, 56-year-old Charlene M. Ogdenski of Canandaigua, were charged with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree. Charlene Ogdenski also faces an additional charge of offering a false written statement.

The incident began on January 16, when Kate Ogdenski contacted the Ontario County Humane Society, claiming her mother had found a stray black-and-white female American Bulldog wandering in the Canandaigua area. Ogdenski said they could no longer care for the dog and wanted to surrender it. Staff at the shelter made arrangements to accept the dog after hours.

Later that day, Charlene Ogdenski arrived at the shelter with the dog, asserting that she had found it on an unknown road and could not locate its owner. She completed and signed paperwork claiming she was not the owner, as required for stray animal intake.

However, after the dog was scanned for a microchip, the chip was traced back to Kate Ogdenski. Further investigation revealed that the dog, named Chiante, had been involved in a bite incident at Kate Ogdenski’s residence on the same day. After a 10-day quarantine period for the dog, Kate Ogdenski reportedly no longer wanted to keep the animal and had contacted the shelter under false pretenses to surrender it.

Both women were arrested, issued appearance tickets, and are scheduled to appear in Hopewell Town Court at a later date.

Chiante remains in the care of the Ontario County Humane Society, where she will be evaluated before being placed for adoption.