The house, at 1132 Meadowbrook Ave., where Robert Brown allegedly kept the dogs was demolished earlier in July under an emergency order from the city Health Department.
“It was a public emergency,” city Health Commissioner Randall Flint said. “It was filled with all kinds of filth, animal waste. The stench coming from the house was just unbelievable. He had dogs in there.”
Brown, according to the complaint filed in Municipal Court, kept the dogs inside the house and refused to allow them to go outside. Authorities arrived at the house June 10. Among those who came was Stark County Dog Warden Jon Barber.
“I extended an olive branch and said, ‘Sir, if you want, I will take some of the dogs at no charge,’ ” Barber said. “I took three adult dogs and a little puppy. Once he surrendered them to me, I took them to the (Stark County) Humane Society.”
Brown was not living in the house on Meadowbrook Avenue, but would stop by daily to feed the dogs, according to what neighboring witnesses told Barber.
The animal cruelty charge is a second-degree misdemeanor.
“I think basically the allegation was that he kept so many dogs in there, and it was so nasty, it was a danger to the animals,” said Matt Kuhn, an assistant prosecutor on the city Law Department staff. “At this point, it has to come to court. I can’t speculate as to what will happen at that pretrial conference.”
Brown, according to Barber, transferred the remaining dogs to a house in the 12100 block of Union Avenue NE (state Route 225) in Lexington Township. Several days later, the dog warden was summoned to that location because a couple of dogs were loose in the road.
“We took two because they were out in the street,” Barber said. “I think he cared very much for the dogs. It got to the point where they overwhelmed him.”
The property in the city is owned by Ruth Springer, according to Stark County real-estate records. Robert Swonger owns the vacant house in Lexington Township, according to county real-estate records.
(Canton Rep - Jul 25, 2015)
