40 Delaware county dogs seized in April declared abandoned after owner misses court date
Nathan Hart
Forty dogs that were seized from a Delaware county home April 7 after abuse allegations were leveled against the owner were declared abandoned Wednesday after their owner did not show up for court, according to a press release.
Authorities seized the dogs—who were chained up outside with only plastic barrels for shelter—from the property on the 7400 block of Kilbourne Road.
Prosecutors brought 30 first- and second-degree misdemeanor charges involving "prohibitions concerning companion animals" against the dogs' owner April 11. First-degree misdemeanors each carry a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, and the second-degree misdemeanors each carry up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.
The owner failed to attend a Wednesday hearing at the Delaware Municipal Court, so Judge Marianne Hemmeter declared the dogs abandoned.
The 40 pit bull and pit bull mixes are now being cared for at the Delaware County Dog Shelter and the Humane Society of Delaware County, according to the press release.
“In terms of expediting safe and healthy outcomes for these dogs, this is the best-case scenario we could have hoped for,” Delaware County Dog Warden Mitchell Garrett said in the release.
“If the property owner had shown up to contest the charges, this would have dragged out much longer.”
Twenty dogs were already being cared for by the Humane Society, but Wednesday's ruling officially grants them custody, according to a Humane Society press release.
Official custody allows the animal group to begin spaying and neutering the dogs and preparing them for adoption.
“It will take time and love to prepare these dogs for adoption. Again, thank you to the community for your support and concern," Humane Society executive director Jana Cassidy said in the release.
Dispatch reporter Jordan Laird contributed to this report.
@PartofMyHart