They soon found a pile of feces on top of a DVD player that was on the floor of a living room, and an underweight pitbull locked in a bathroom that was scratched and torn apart from dogs being left there for extended periods of time, according to police.
By the time police left the home of Kevin Rocheville at 31 Jonathan Road, they had seized 10 dogs and eight puppies due to conditions found in the home, according to a press release.
Rocheville, who was not at home when a reporter rang his doorbell Tuesday afternoon, is now expected to face animal-cruelty charges, according to Pelham police.
The seized dogs were taken to the Rockingham Emergency Veterinary Hospital in Windham to be examined. A woman who answered the phone there Tuesday night said she couldn't comment on the dogs' conditions.
Police say they believe at least 15 pit bull/pit bull mix dogs that Rocheville was caring for are still unaccounted for.
A neighbor who declined to give his name said Rocheville always "seemed like a good guy" who liked rescuing dogs from shelters so they wouldn't be put down.
That neighbor said Rocheville largely kept to himself, and did not cause problems in the neighborhood, though both he and a female neighbor said barking dogs could often be heard on Rocheville's property.
Both neighbors said the barking stopped several days ago, and that they hadn't seen Rocheville in the area since.
The male neighbor said he spoke to Rocheville several days ago, and that Rocheville told him one of his dogs had contracted Parvovirus, a potentially life-threatening illness for dogs. The neighbor said Rocheville told him that he had stopped letting others adopt the dogs he rescued because he didn't want to give anyone a sick or potentially dying dog.
The neighbor said he thought Rocheville only had a handful of dogs. Police say that he had far more.
Police say the search warrant served on Rocheville's home Tuesday at 9:25 a.m., was the result of a roughly two-week investigation that began when Pelham Animal Control Officer Allison Caprigno found a loose dog in the area on Sept. 30, and linked the dog to Rocheville.
On that day, Rocheville told Caprigno he was fostering eight dogs and some puppies, according to police.
On Oct. 5, Caprigno got a call expressing concern from a rescue facility in Connecticut saying Rocheville adopted six of their dogs, and potentially had as many as 30 in his home, according to police.
On Oct. 6, police went to Rocheville's home for an "unrelated matter," and learned there were up to 30 or 40 dogs in the house, most of which were living in crates, police said. Rocheville denied police entry to his home that day, according to police.
On Oct. 7, Caprigno received pictures of 20 to 30 dogs living in crates with feces and urine, police said.
"In all of the pictures, there were empty food bowls and no water available for the dogs," police wrote in a press release.
Caprigno visited Rocheville's home that day and smelled urine inside before finding several dogs in cages in the basement, police said. Rocheville told her feces in the dogs' cages was there because he just got home from work and hadn't cleaned the cages yet.
On Oct. 11, Caprigno made an unannounced visit, and Rocheville turned over four pitbull mixes that Caprigno described as having decent weight, a foul smell, and long nails.
On the same day, two dogs Rocheville allegedly got from a rescue in Texas were found wandering the streets of Nashua, police said.
On Oct. 12, Rocheville tried to give a sick pit bull to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Methuen, according to police. Later that night, Rocheville allegedly abandoned five dogs at a business in Hudson, and one of those dogs had to be put down while another needed immediate medical care, according to police.
On Oct. 13, Salem Animal Control Officer Cori Bliss found a stray dog that Caprigno previously saw at Rocheville's home, police said.
On Oct. 14, Rocheville showed up at a home in Sudbury, Mass., shortly after four dogs in urine- and feces-laced cages were found abandoned there. One of those dogs was seized because it had open sores and wounds on its body, but three of the dogs were returned to Rocheville, according to police.
On Monday, Rocheville told the Pelham Animal Shelter he was going to turn two pit bulls over to police, but then never contacted police or turned the dogs over, according to police.
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| Kevin Rocheville (Facebook) |
Pelham police and animal control officers from Hudson, Windham and Salem accompanied Caprigno as the search warrant was served at Rocheville's home Tuesday morning.
Police say that based on information from animal-rescue groups in the area from whom Rocheville adopted dogs, they believe 15 dogs that were in his care remain unaccounted for.
Anyone with information on the location of those dogs is asked to call Caprigno at 603-635-2411, or email acaprigno@pelhampolice.com.
(Lowell Sun - Oct 19, 2016)
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