Charges were filed Friday against 45-year-old Lisa Peterson and 41-year-old William Knauff (Will Knauff, Bill Knauff).
Neither lives in the mobile home, according to humane agent Renee Dorogy, who said the home is in "deplorable" condition and is likely not habitable.
They've basically turned it into a dog kennel full of dogs, feces and urine.
Dorogy said six adult dogs and three puppies are locked inside the mobile home, several of them tied on very short ropes to the front door. The other six dogs are outside, she said.
Dorogy said she spoke with Knauff on the telephone about a month ago and told him the home had to be cleaned.
"Dogs cannot live stuck in their own feces and urine. Those conditions cause upper respiratory infections," she said.
Other than covering up a hole in the floor, Dorogy said no other improvements had been made.
She also said the only outside access for several of the dogs was a hole in a piece of plywood, but the hole is several feet above floor level and the animals must jump up to try and get out. And one of the dogs is blind, Dorogy said.
"Imagine that blind animal trying to jump up to get out that hole," she said.
Mercer County Dog Warden Ira Custer filed charges in May against Peterson and Knauff for failing to license the dogs or have the animals vaccinated against rabies. According to paperwork on file in District Judge Lorinda Hinch's office in Mercer, neither Peterson nor Knauff has responded to those charges.
The dogs are still in the mobile home, she said, but she has asked Hinch for permission to take the animals. She is searching for foster homes for them, she said.
If the ammonia levels in the trailer are at dangerous levels, get a search warrant and seize them.
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| Duct tape that had been wrapped around the dogs' faces in an effort to keep them from barking |
(Sharon Herald - July 3, 2015)
