Pennsylvania: Michelle Hawkins-Pena and Billy Pena accused of starving their animals

PENNSYLVANIA -- The Bucks County SPCA has seized three starving horses from a property in Bedminster, along with other animals.

The owners are now facing animal cruelty charges.

 

 

A shocking photo shows one Bucks County Humane Officer and a volunteer seizing one of the horses, whose ribs are clearly visible.

FOX 29 stopped by the property after being tipped off about the near-death conditions of the animals.

Now, after an investigation, officials have removed three horses, as well as six chickens and a pot-bellied pig.

 

 

Animal cruelty charges are pending against the owners of the animals, Michelle Hawkins-Pena and Billy Pena.

Michelle Hawkins-Pena had previously claimed to the Chief of Police that she had rescued them "from the race track".

“We appreciate the support and collaboration of the community and the Bedminster Police Department.

"Despite ordering the owner to provide necessary nutrition and veterinary care, the animals conditions continued to decline and a search warrant was served,” said Humane Society Police Officer Nikki Thompson. 

“A case like this one requires patience and multiple visits to collect sufficient evidence to maximize the likelihood of a conviction of animal cruelty.”

A veterinarian, who is now overseeing the care of the animals, hopes for a full recovery despite the long road ahead.

The Bucks County SPCA is asking for donations to cover the food and medical expenses for the animals.

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Woman on Facebook says the two gray horses belong to her:

  

 

 

(Fox29 - July 29, 2017)

Earlier:

• Pennsylvania: Neighbors in Bucks County concerned over horses that have been starving for months

Alabama: Jodi Scott, 23, and her boyfriend Devin Hulsey, 23, abandoned their pets to die, say police

ALABAMA -- Two local people are facing animal cruelty charges after their pets were found bound with no access to food or water earlier this month.

It’s suspected the canines and pig had spent at least 10 days in these conditions.

 

 

  

 

The home on Rocky Branch Road where the animals were abandoned was last known to be occupied by 23-year-old Devin Kaine Hulsey and his girlfriend 23-year-old Jodi Melissa Scott.

Tuscaloosa County Deputy Martha Hocutt is assigned to animal cruelty cases in the county. She says it’s a wonder these animals survived these deplorable conditions.

 

 

 

“There was no way for them to escape,” she told WVUA 23. “With the heat index being over 100 degrees on any given day, if you don’t give animals water or food, it can kill them,” Hocutt said.

Today, the three dogs are recovering at the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter where they will eventually be up for adoption. And their brother the pot belly pig, he is recovering in a foster home.

 

 

"Leave them to die. Leave them starving. I'll never understand it," said the neighbor who alerted authorities.

On Wednesday July 28th, Hulsey and Scott made TSCO's most wanted list. Scott turned herself in on Thursday, July 27th, and Hulsey turned himself him on Friday, July 28th.

"I thought a lot of them before this happened. And would've never expected them to do something of this level," said the neighbor.

Despite Devin Hulsey being issued a bond of $14,500 and Jodi Scott getting about a $12,000 bond, they were somehow able to come up with the required amount (probably 10% = ~$2,400) and the couple bonded out of the Tuscaloosa County Jail shortly after booking.

 

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(WVUA23 - July 26, 2017)

Texas: Pot belly pig found wandering around at gas station taken to Houston sanctuary

TEXAS -- A pot-bellied pig that was found injured and chasing following customers at a local gas station was picked up Thursday and taken to a pig rescue center in Houston.

Animal Care Services named her Piggy Wiggy after she was found about 3:16 a.m. Wednesday at the gas station in the 600 block of South Padre Island Drive, near Old Brownsville Road.

 

Piggy Wiggy, a pot-bellied pig, weighed 110 pounds, had what appeared to be sunburn or burn injuries, flea allergies, and bites from other animals, Animal Care Services kennel master Danni Alcantara said.

"We had two veterinarians look at her and we tried to figure out what might have happened to her," Alcantara said. "She might have fallen out of a truck or gotten severe sunburn or burn from going under a car, we are just not sure."

The piggy seemed to have been someone's pet. She was friendly, sleepy, and hungry when she arrived at the Animal Care Services office. Alcantara said she was glad the animal went where the people were and got help.

Alcantara said Animal Care Services contacted the Houston Mini Pig Rescue Wednesday night and got a call back from them Thursday morning.

Meagan Esparza, president and founder of Houston Mini Pig Rescue, picked up Piggy Wiggy about 4 p.m. Thursday and said she hopes to get her the care she needs.

"She's just so cute and sweet. We hope to get her completely healed," Esparza said. "We'll get her some antibiotics and get her spayed if we see fit."

Esparza said Piggy Wiggy will stay at the sanctuary and won't be put up for adoption.

"She's just a baby," Esparza said. "She'll stay with us at the sanctuary. Any animal that's been through what she's been through will never be put up for adoption."

Alcantara said pigs are allowed within city limits.

According to a Corpus Christi city ordinance, livestock kept within city limits cannot come within 100 feet  of any existing dwelling or business building, owned, used or maintained by any person. Pens, stalls or other facilities to keep livestock, including pigs, must be located so that the animals cannot come within 500 feet  of any existing restaurant or food processing establishment.

The animals must be kept so that they cannot come within 25 feet of any nearby property line that abuts an existing residence.

(Corpus Christi Caller - Times-Feb 9, 2017)

Canada: Police catch family's escaped pet potbellied pig and take him home

CANADA -- An escaped pet potbellied pig in Brant County prompted a phone call to police.

OPP say they were notified of the pig’s disappearance late Monday morning.

Officers drove around the pig’s home – in the southern part of the county, south of Burford – and eventually spotted it.

Police say a “short foot chase” ensued, after which the pet was caught and returned to his family.

(CTV News - Feb 2, 2017)

Texas: Animal Care Services catches elusive pot-bellied pig named Buttercup

TEXAS -- Sweets were Buttercup the Pot-bellied pig’s undoing.

It was a serving of 20 powdered mini-donuts and one marshmallow, to be exact, that resulted in Animal Care Services officers catching the pig that was a mascot of sorts to visitors at Cathedral Rock Park, on the outskirts of Leon Valley.

In the past few months, ACS officers had responded to public safety calls about Buttercup. Each time they were unable to lasso her with ropes that couldn’t loop around her wide, spotted belly that scraped the ground.

After three tries, a team of six ACS officers, two from Leon Valley, and three medical staff finally caught the 3-foot-long pig Tuesday at dawn at a dry creekbed, about a half mile inside the park.

ACS officer Aimee DeContreras heard snoring and followed the noise to the sleeping pig, nestled by two gnawed watermelon rinds and a fleece baby blanket a Good Samaritan had left for her.

ACS spokeswoman Lisa Norwood said after enticing Buttercup with sweets, the team used wood planks to herd the pig toward a large, modified metal pen.

“Not without a disagreement on her part,” Norwood said, “thankfully the donuts sweetened the deal for her.”

In the past few months, Animal Care Services officers had responded to public safety calls about Buttercup, a wandering pot-bellied pig at Cathedral Rock Park, on the outskirts of Leon Valley.

Chief ACS field operations officer Shannon Sims said they had previously also set out traps that weren’t effective. Rather than sedate and carry the 160-pound pig through rocky terrain that vehicles couldn’t traverse, the team came up with another plan.

After Buttercup was focused on eating donuts, an officer slid a rope around her belly, stringing the remaining strand through the pen to hold. The team lifted the metal, floorless cage with poles as sunlight broke through the darkness and they trekked back over the rough landscape with Buttercup trotting along inside the pen.

“We’d walk about 10 feet then she’d stop,” Sims said of the half-hour-long, staggered walk back to the parking lot.

Norwood said the pig, named by online fans, was so docile it had probably been someone’s pet.

“One of the basic tenets of responsible pet ownership is know your local animal laws,” she said. “In the City of San Antonio you can’t have a pig. We believe she was probably dumped in the park by somebody who got her and didn’t realize how very big and how very hungry she would be as she got older.”

That afternoon, Buttercup curled up in a livestock pen on a bed of hay at the ACS campus, whiling away time until arrangements can be made for her to be transported to a rescue organization elsewhere.

(Express News - Feb 2, 2017)

Georgia: Friends of DeKalb Animals under fire as it's discovered that they never bothered to check on animals in Aaron Thompson and Chrissy Kaczynski's care that suffered and died

GEORGIA -- An animal cruelty case in DeKalb County left the rescue community stunned and saddened because it involved one of their own.

Longtime animal rescuer Aaron Thompson was arrested on one felony county of animal cruelty for what investigators found inside two houses.

 

He and his longtime girl friend Chrissy Kaczynski spent more than a decade together rescuing unwanted dogs through the non-profit group Friends of DeKalb Animals.

But when the two split up in October, Kaczynski said they also agreed to split up responsibility for the animals still in their care. She took six dogs with her to a new house in Eatonton. Thompson was left with a dozen animals, including a pot belly pig, spread between two houses across the street from each other in Decatur.

  

They hoarded animals in TWO HOUSES

One month later, DeKalb County animal control officers visited Thompson after receiving a tip about abused animals. One of the dogs in Thompson's care had already died; others were "emaciated," according to the police report, with "ribs, hip bones... clearly visible."

When the FOX 5 I-Team stopped by Thompson's house a few days later, the stench was still overwhelming. We found him on his sofa in a room filled with empty cages and debris. He said he could barely move.

"I am sick of it," he moaned. "I cannot believe that it's going on. I can't believe she put me in this predicament."

Floors covered in litter, animal hair and dander... is
that white stuff flea powder? Floors are ruined.

Look at the layer of hair and dust on the blinds

Neighbor Rebecca Novak spent days trying to clean up the mess left behind. Dog feces and urine permeated the hardwood floors.

"She left all these dogs behind and I was upset because they're her dogs and why would she leave them behind?" Novak asked. "And I wasn't upset until I realized Aaron's condition that I was just mad."

Thompson claimed he couldn't walk between the two houses to properly care for any of the dogs. He said his ex never checked on him or the dozen animals they had rescued together. That included a pot belly pig named Charlotte that neighbor Novak found with protruding ribs and little shelter. Kaczynski had posted for years on social media about Charlotte.

 

WHATEVER AARON'S MEDICAL ISSUES, HE WASN'T TOO SICK TO PICK UP A PHONE AND CALL THE MANY, MANY PEOPLE HE KNEW INVOLVED IN RESCUE AND ASK THEM TO COME AND GET THE DOGS. INSTEAD, HE DID NOTHING AND LET THEM SLOWLY STARVE TO DEATH.

"When you're in rescue, you don't abandon animals," Novak complained. She also helps an animal rescue group. "We're constantly cleaning up other people's messes when other people abandon animals."

  

  

  

 

Chrissy Kaczynski would only talk to us by phone.

"This has been devastating," she told me. "My worst nightmare. I left the dogs with him because I never doubted he'd take care of them. I trusted him that he'd call me if there would be a problem. I never anticipated I'd have to worry because you'd think you'd know that person."

She insisted all the dogs and Aaron were healthy when she moved away.

What Charlotte looked like when Kaczynski got her

What Kaczynski turned Charlotte into by the time she was seized

Kaczynski will not face any charges. A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said there was no evidence the cruelty conditions were there before Aaron Thompson was left alone to care for the dogs.

This is ridiculous. I'm sure Aaron would testify against Chrissy. You charge both of them and let the judge figure it out. 

But neighbor Rebecca Novak took pictures which she believed show more than just one month's worth of neglect. Chrissy admitted to us she had not been in one of the houses for more than a year.

Friends of DeKalb Animals should be ashamed of themselves

Foster homes are supposed to be inspected regularly by the rescue group that placed the dogs there. 

Friends of DeKalb Animals president Lynn Herron said she relied on Kaczynski to inspect her own houses.

Kaczynski told me it was her ex-boyfriend's job to find a new home for Charlotte the pot belly pig. After the arrest, Charlotte was moved to The Tucker Farm where the owners said she is thriving.

Meanwhile, Aaron Thompson has been living alone. No partner. No animals. Just a future court date.

"If I have to have some criminal charges against me, I'll just have to deal with them," he vowed. "Cause I can't keep living with something over my head."

(Fox5Atlanta - Dec 5, 2016)