A resident of the park called 911 concerning a dog in very poor condition that had gotten loose from an empty trailer. Neighbors told Robinson the dog came from number 14E, supposedly belonging to a couple who were maintenance workers for the park.
Robinson looked through a window at the trailer and called Wayne County Animal Cruelty Investigator, Tom Littlefield. She spotted two puppies who stuck their heads in the closed window and two adult dogs, and heard more when she knocked on the front door. She also notified Macedon Code Enforcement Officer Scott Allen. By the time more help arrived, and they gained entrance to the trailer home, both puppies were dead, one almost completely eaten.
The Officer spotted an extension cord running from the trailer to another a distance away. Otherwise, there was no power in the home and officials later discovered running water in 14E.
When the admitted dog owner, Eleanor Hughes, age 53, of 2048 Wayneport Road (Pinewood Trailer Park) showed up, she admitted there were 11 dogs in the residence. She begged Littlefield “Don’t take my baby”, referring to one of the dogs.
A search by police and Littlefield revealed eight dogs, the two dead puppies and Eleanor’s dog.
Eleanor’s husband, James Hughes, age 41, a convicted Level I Sex Offender, was also taken into custody. The dogs were completely covered in fleas and urine and feces covered the floor. A cooking pot with what Littlefield believed was human urine was against one wall. “I had to dodge stepping in feces. He (James) just kept walking through it like it wasn’t even there.”
Police were unaware that, while they stood out front of the trailer before entering, James and an accomplice were taking three other dogs out of a back window of the trailer, hiding them from police. Two were later discovered in a small camper near the park and the third dog was located at a nearby neighbor’s house. All eleven dogs were taken to Lollypop Farm in Monroe County.
“Vile, is the only word I can use to describe the conditions in that trailer,” said Littlefield. “I can’t describe the filth and odor,” he added. Other personnel responding to the trailer park said they picked up the odor a distance away upon arriving. The trailer was deemed unfit and condemned and posted, along with the other two trailers where the three dogs were hidden. One of the otherwise abandoned trailers was described as a “hangout” for the kids in the park.
Officials found insufficient food and water, and the trailer temperature was above 100º. No windows were left open and the door to the trailer was screwed shut. Police believe the only access to the trailer was through a back window. Conditions were so deplorable that besides cannibalism, the dogs had begun eating the cushions off a sofa and had chewed on the door and surrounding fixtures.
Both Eleanor and James Hughes were charged with Misdemeanor Animal Cruelty (Torture/Injure/Not Feed Animals), arraigned and remanded to jail on $2500 cash/$5000 bond.
James Hughes admitted to police that none of the husky/mix dogs was licensed, or had ever been to a veterinarian and that “Shadow”, Eleanor’s favorite, was registered.
Littlefield asked James why he kept so many dogs. “He said he just kept getting more and they had puppies. I asked him why they had no food, or water and he stated he was going to give them some, but hadn’t yet.”
On Tuesday (9/8) Macedon Police arrested Zachary R. Anthony, age 20, of Macedon for Obstructing Governmental Administration, and for Obstructing an Animal Cruelty Investigation.
It is alleged that while police were in their preliminary investigation at the trailer of James and Eleanor Hughes, in the Pinewood Trailer Park, Hughes removed three dogs from the trailer out of a back window. Anthony assisted and allowed two of the dogs to be concealed in his camper in the park.
An additional dog was hidden inside of a plow truck on the property in an attempt to conceal them and their condition from police. All three were recovered and were taken along with eight other emaciated dogs to Lollypop Farms for treatment.
Anthony, who has numerous unrelated pending charges in Newark, was arraigned in Macedon Town Court and remanded on $2,500 cash bail.
Wayne County District Attorney, Rick Healy, said the County is on the hook for a $1,300 bill to Lollypop Farm, before the Hughes agreed to sign the dogs over to the County. He stated he will be handling the case himself and will be seeking a lengthy jail time for the Hughes. “This is just such a disgraceful case,” said the District Attorney.
As for Littlefield, following the removal of the dogs and the investigation, he took a scalding hot shower, went to the nearby Walmart and bought all new clothes, burned the old ones and sprayed down his van to get rid of the fleas.
“One of the really scary, disgusting things about this, is that they (the Hughes) lived in that trailer too. The mattress was urine and feces soaked along with the rest of the trailer,” said Littlefield
Littlefield praised the workers at Lollypop Farms who were called in on Sunday night and worked late to admit, wash and care for the dogs that were seized.
The Pinewood Trailer Park has a bad reputation with Town Police and officials. Besides tagging the three trailer homes this past week, the Town has condemned and removed 20-25 in the past five years.
The Park owner, David Dyminski, of 27 LePere Drive in Pittsford told officials that the Hughes couple actually own the trailer. Code Enforcement told Dyminski that whoever owns the trailer, it was removed, citing it as a general health risk.
(Wayne Times - Sept 12, 2015)
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