Woman who left pets to die speaks out

NEW YORK -- “That dog went everywhere with me,” says Cynthia Scheithauer.  “He was like a baby to me.”

Last week that terrier named Yukon was found emaciated and dead in a trailer home in the Wayne County town of Lyons.  Police say he had been abandoned there for a month.

Cynthia Scheithauer has been charged with abusing the animal and one other, a cat who was also found dead in her mobile home. She spoke exclusively with 13WHAM News.

Scheithauer says she is shaken by the death of her dog but maintains it is not her fault.  She showed us photos of Yukon and talked about how she always dressed him up in made-for-doggie clothing.

“I loved that dog,” she says.  “He needed a lot of care and love and that’s what I thought I was giving him.”

Evidence photos obtained by 13WHAM News show the small dog wearing a sweater when he was found dead inside the trailer home last week.  Scheithauer says she moved out of the trailer because there was no heat or water.

But before she did she says she left the dog at a neighbor’s house. Then when the weeks stretched on she asked her neighbor to find Yukon a good home.

“I talked to her on the phone and she said that they found a good home for it and that it was all taken care of,” she says. Prosecutors disagree.

“We interviewed the neighbors and they dispute that,” says Wayne County District Attorney Rick Healy. “Even if she did ask someone else and they didn’t do it she’d still be responsible however in this case that’s disputed.”

He also points to evidence inside the trailer that shows the dog and a yellow cat were trapped inside.

Evidence photos show the home was littered with feces inside.  Food and water bowls left out were long empty.  A vet who examined the animals says they were emaciated and dehydrated.

Scheithauer has been charged with two counts of failing to provide proper food and water to the animals- both misdemeanor charges.

Scheithauer says she does not own the cat.  It somehow got inside the trailer after she left.  When 13WHAM News visited the trailer park it was clear a colony of feral cats had taken up residence under the home.

Yukon weighed only eight pounds at his death, less than half of the 20 pounds he would have weighed if healthy.  “They can’t care for themselves,” says Healy adding “I think there should be consequences for that.”

“I never meant to leave that dog alone and abandoned,” says Scheithauer.  “I loved that dog like he was one of my own.”

(WHAM - May 10, 2012)

Earlier:

• Woman left dog, cat locked in abandoned trailer to die