Oct 17, 2014 3 min read

A woman has a month to remove all but four dogs from her North Franklin Township home, which local officials believe needs to be condemned.

District Judge Ethan Ward ruled Tuesday that Marcia Hupp can have only four dogs at 14 Zelt St. to comply with the township ordinance setting limits on dog ownership and kennels.

“The dogs are well taken care of,” said township Supervisor Martha Ward.

Ward said the township went to investigate after receiving a complaint from a neighbor, who said he couldn’t open the windows in his house because of a bad odor in the neighborhood.

An air test was performed in Hupp’s house, and it determined the residence “was not healthy,” Ward said following a supervisors’ meeting Tuesday.

Harold Ivery Jr., North Franklin’s building inspector, said the house needs to be condemned.

The township’s code enforcer, Peter Grieb, cited Hupp on July 5 under the ordinance regulating kennels, which are not permitted in her neighborhood. In all, she faced nearly 60 citations, including some for animal cruelty, filed by the state Department of Agriculture, a court official said.

Hupp, 59, referred comment Friday to her attorney, Molly Maguire Gaussa.

Gaussa said an agreement was reached with the state to withdraw all but three citations if she pleaded guilty to one each for animal cruelty, failure to obtain a license to operate a kennel and failure to have proof all of the dogs had rabies vaccinations.

Hupp intends to appeal the animal cruelty case Monday to Washington County Court. That case dealt mostly with the number of animals she owned, Gaussa said.

“There was no question about the care of these animals,” Gaussa said. “She has a very wonderful heart to care for these animals.”

At that time of the ordinance citation, it listed 22 dogs at the residence, but the number of them has varied between Hupp’s house in North Franklin and on property in neighboring Amwell Township, Ivery said. He said Hupp once had 32 dogs, and that she needed to have a Pennsylvania kennel license to keep more than 25 dogs.

The district judge said he would waive the $300 fine in the case if Hupp complies with his Tuesday order.

Hupp had 13 dogs at the house Friday, her attorney said.

She runs a volunteer animal rescue group named Marcia’s Muttley Crew, according to its Facebook page. It has rescued llamas, horses, goats and snakes, the site indicates.