Jan 25, 2013 3 min read

Washington Area Humane Society reportedly confiscated seven dogs Thursday from a Chartiers Township pair who had more than 60 animals seized from their property in 2004.

According to court documents, Chartiers Township police alerted the humane society to a report they received Jan. 17 regarding an underweight dog on the property of William Moore and Marci Klinzing at Route 18 and Crossroads Road. A township employee reportedly told police the dog looked malnourished and its ribs were visible. The affidavit supporting the search warrant noted at least 20 complaints had been received that past week regarding the dog’s weight and its lack of shelter.

Speaking outside his residence Thursday night, Moore, 63, who has lived on the property all his life, said he has been fighting to keep his animals for years.

“The humane society has put us through hell,” he said.

Moore said he feeds and waters the dogs every day. He questioned how the tipsters could’ve seen the dogs’ bowls from the road.

“I buy over $100 worth of feed every two weeks,” Moore said.

He also explained he had recently installed carpeting in the dog boxes to replace the straw bedding for the winter, but at least one pooch had decided to drag the material outside.

Phone calls seeking comment from the humane society and a local animal control officer were not returned as of the end of business Friday.

Klinzing declined to comment before speaking with her attorney, but did confirm that seven dogs that belonged to members of her family had been taken.

Moore said they were watching the dogs for Klinzing’s daughter while she was settling her living situation.

In December 2004, the humane society confiscated more than 60 animals from the property after receiving an anonymous tip about the animals’ poor living condition. The animals included a dozen dogs as well as rabbits, ducks, chickens, roosters, cats, a guinea hen and even a pair of peacocks.

According to a former humane society officer, the animals were either in cages or tied outside with no food or water. The chickens, rabbits and ducks were reportedly crammed in tiny cages packed with several inches of fecal matter and urine. All of the dogs were said to have whipworms and several were sickly from water deprivation. A cat carcass also was reportedly found, which Moore had said was an old family pet that had died a few days before, but he forgot to bury.

A few months later, District Judge David Mark approved an agreement between the humane society and the pair that would’ve allowed four of the dogs to be returned if the property was cleaned up and they allowed weekly inspections. Following another inspection, the humane society refused to return the dogs, which the pair claimed where purebred beagles.

In 2006, Klinzing and Moore told the Observer-Reporter they love animals so much they can’t help but open their home and property to those facing abandonment or death.

“They’re just like our kids,” Klinzing said at the time.

However, a former humane society president had described the pair not as doting parents, but as “animals hoarders.”