Two dogs removed from home in Yeadon
PENNSYLVANIA -- Two Cane Corso dogs were rescued from a mud and feces filled pen outside of a house on Bailey Road on Friday afternoon.
The move by police and officers from Delaware County Animal Control came after a third dog that was being kept at the vacant house bit a neighbor Thursday night.
“A resident was on the sidewalk and two of this guy’s dogs were out and one actually attacked him and bit him on the upper thigh,” said police Chief Donald Molineux.
The resident filed a report with police Friday morning.
When police checked out the property, they were appalled by what they found.
“One (dog) was in the garage and one was in an outside pen,” said Molineux. “They were living in deplorable conditions. Dog feces, the smell was unbearable.”
The stench from the dog pen could be smelled from a block away.
“I made some calls to the ASPCA and our animal control officer and prepared and applied for a search warrant to take every animal out of the house that was down there.”
The police chief said he spoke by phone with the dogs’ owner and gave him an hour to get back to him. When he failed to do so, the warrant was executed.
Delaware County Animal Control officers dressed in hip waders removed two dogs and a cat from the property.
One animal control officer said that one of the dogs had sores on his belly and on his legs. The other was in better shape as was the cat.
“They’re very aggressive dogs,” she said. “This is the second time around with these dogs.”
Another officer said they had been called to the house before, but that a judge gave the dogs back to the owner after a hearing.
“There’s 6 inches of dog feces mixed with rain water and urine in there,” said the officer, pointing to the small dog pen on the side of the house.
Neighbors living in this quiet, tree-lined neighborhood across from Holy Cross Cemetery are understandably upset and have tried to do something about the dogs before.
Cheryl Hill, who lives next door, said about 19 neighbors had signed a petition to get the borough to remove the dogs from the property.
“Nobody lives there,” she said. “They have a caretaker that comes and goes, but he only gives them a small portion of dry dog food. My cats get more food.”
Lt. Michael Dolly, who was at the house while animal control officers searched the property, noted that the house, located in the unit block of Bailey Road, is in foreclosure proceedings.
Someone, he said, had gone to the property and removed one of the three dogs before police got there.
Two dogs had been taken from the property last year after one of them [attacked] an elderly neighbor and her dog. One of the two died while in the custody of the SPCA; the other was eventually returned to the owner.
According to Molineux, the owner was cited for harboring a vicious dog, taken to court and convicted.
[It's a confusing timeline. So one Cane Corso attacked the elderly woman and her dog in July 2012. They seized two of them; one dog died in custody and the 2nd was returned to the owner. Then, in December 2012, authorities executed a search warrant and removed four dogs which were in a filthy pen and starving. Wasn't the owner charged with cruelty?
It says that "the judge gave the dogs back to the owner after a hearing". Seriously? If so, this judge needs his head examined because he ordered the dogs returned and the owner starved them all over again, and put the public in danger because the dogs got loose - again - and attacked a second neighbor.]
“Everything calmed down for a while, then he’s received a number of citations in the last three weeks for peace disturbance, dogs barking at all hours,” the chief said.
Police have issued numerous citations to the dogs’ owner. Molineux estimated the owner was cited at least 12 other times in the past few weeks.
Police now plan to follow through with animal control and file cruelty to animal charges against the owner.
“The dogs are in our custody,” Molineux said. “I don’t want them to be released back to the owner for any reason.”
(Delco Times - June 15, 2013)
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