Washington Area Humane Society seeks costs of caring for seized dogs
Washington Area Humane Society is seeking more than $12,000 from two people believed to live at a Chartiers Township home where it seized eight dogs in December.
In a petition filed Monday under the 2013 Costs of Care of Certain Seized Animals Act, the humane society asked a Washington County judge to order Marci Klinzing and William Moore – both of 8 Crossroad Road – to pay for “medical/veterinary treatment and housing/caring for the dogs” – one of which has since borne four puppies – since the animals were taken from the property Dec. 13.
The group asserts the total cost of veterinary and other care for the animals and boarding them totaled $12,728 as of Feb. 22, and that costs of housing the dogs grows by $240 a day, or $20 per animal. It also seeks “payment of future costs from respondents for each animal plus medical care in future months” and court costs.
Glen Thompson, a humane protection officer, received a tip from a UPS driver Dec. 12 that dogs had been left outside in the cold at the address and went there to post a notice. He visited the property again the following day and “found the dogs tied up outside amidst cold and wintry weather,” according to the petition.
The next day, Thompson visited the property again and allegedly found the dogs still tied up outside. He went to the county courthouse and returned, escorted by township police, with a warrant and “seized the eight dogs left outside and uncared for by the respondents,” the petition said.
Dogs were allegedly on short leashes and “tied up amidst trash” with a lack of water and no “insulating materials” such as blankets or straw.
The dogs were “mostly Pomeranian-Chihuahua and/or Pomeranian-Chihuahua-Bassett Hound mixes,” according to the petition. One of them was pregnant.
On Jan. 10, Chartiers police charged Moore, 68, and Klinzing, 39, with eight counts each of animal cruelty. Court papers don’t list attorneys for them.
The society’s petition alleges the dogs were “dirty, matted, malnourished and unwell” and required veterinary care that included vaccinations.