Case Snapshot
Case ID: 17536
Classification: Hoarding
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
More cases in Armstrong County, PA
More cases in PA
Login to Watch this Case

New features are coming soon. Login with Facebook to get an early start and help us test them out!


Attorneys/Judges
Defense(s): Linda Ziembicki
Judge(s): Samuel Goldstrohm


Images for this Case

For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.



Saturday, Mar 5, 2011

County: Armstrong

Charges: Summary, Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 6 files available

Alleged: Barbara L. Grey

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Thomas J. Ulintz said he is still trying to make contact with a 50-year-old Valley Township woman whose Great Dane dogs were discovered under inhumane conditions last weekend.

Ulintz said he filed charges at District Magisterial Judge Samuel Goldstrohm's office citing Barbara L. Grey with three misdemeanor counts of Cruelty to Animals stemming from three dead dogs found in the back of a broken-down pickup truck at the residence on Yockey Road. Nine additional summary counts were also filed for nine other dogs discovered in the house in deplorable condition.

"This is not a felony. We are not going to take them into custody and put handcuffs on them at this time. The judge (Goldstrohm) will send out paperwork. If they don't respond, then a warrant will be issued," Ulintz said.

Police were called last Saturday night shortly before midnight because the 911 dispatchers received a call from the residence phone that essentially went "dead" after dispatchers answered it. Ulintz described the events leading up to the discovery of the animals.

"When we arrived at the house, it was Saturday night (March 5). There was a real bad rain storm. We were going up the driveway. Our patrol vehicle actually got stuck. We had to walk the rest of the way. We got up there. We knocked at the door. Nobody was home. All the lights were on and there was a flat screen TV that was turned on as well. When my partner knocked on the door, all the dogs started going crazy. We could see through a blind or a curtain a couple of the dogs. I looked in and noticed some of the dogs were in some bad condition. Then we walked around the house. That is usual protocol on a hang-up call. We try to make every effort to talk to somebody at the residence. Nobody was home at the residence. Sometimes when there is real bad weather like that, wind or rain, older phone lines for whatever reason when they short out will call 911 directly. That's what we think happened. Before leaving, I looked back in the window and I noticed some of the dogs seemed to be in bad health. I called the human society when we got back to the station, told her what I saw. She took it from there. She followed up the rest of the way. She rescued the dogs with a vet with her and a Great Dane Society person with them. And they rescued the dogs after getting a search warrant from Judge Goldstrohm."

Ulintz said that he has attempted to contact Grey, but has not been able to make contact.

"Still to this day I have not talked to the owner of the house. Every time I try to call, there's no answer. I have made several attempts to go to the house and no one has been there."

Humane Officer Penny Dewoehrel described her experience in retrieving the animals.

According to animal rescuers, this dog was chained to the wall. There was a hole in the floor in front of its feed pan. "If the dog slipped, she would have hung herself," Humane Officer Penny Dewoehrel said.

"The trooper called in 5:30 in the morning saying to me that the dogs in the home were all emaciated and the situation was extremely poor. We left a notice on her door to have her contact myself or the trooper (Ulintz) involved. We did not hear anything. I called the home for three straight days and did not get anyone answering that phone. I went there on March 8. Again, nobody was home. I saw the condition the dogs were in and immediately obtained a search warrant and removed those animals."

Dewoehrel said when she removed the dogs, the lights were still on in the home and no one was home.

She confirmed that the three dogs found dead in the back of the pickup truck died of starvation.

"One was dead and decayed before winter, one sometime during winter, and one fairly recent."

Dewoehrel said she also found graves of dogs that had previously died and were buried.

"She still hasn't responded to any of our calls. She is actually hiding out now. Where she's at, we don't know. That will be the trooper's job to hunt her down."

Dewoehrel said that although the nine rescued Great Danes are doing better, there are still complications.

"The dogs are in veterinary care. They are doing better. They are actually all eating now. They are actually walking and barking now. So they are feeling a bit better. One is still 'iffy'. One may lose a leg. It's touch and go. We will have to wait and see. The vets are doing everything they can."

Dewoehrel would not disclose the location of the dogs; however, she said she has had tremendous response from the public.

"I have already had 250 calls since eight o'clock this morning (Thursday)," she said. "They are just taking care of the animals. They don't want the publicity."


Case Updates

Three Great Danes have a new home and owners who enjoy watching them bound around like deer.

"I've gotten so attached to those three," said Rich Kohl, who operates Gentle Ben's Giant Breed Rescue with his wife Noreen Kohl in Zelienople.

The Kohls will be able to keep the three dogs as pets as part of an agreement with Barbara L. Grey, 50. Humane officers removed 12 Great Danes -- three dead and the remaining nine emaciated and in need of medical attention -- from a residence belonging to Grey and she was charged by police in March with animal cruelty.

Grey was accepted into the county's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program on Thursday for one year. She agreed to relinquish ownership of the nine dogs and pay $3,057 in restitution to the Kohls.

A defendant who participates in the ARD program can earn a dismissal of charges if the program stipulations are followed.

The 12 dogs were removed from a Yockey Road, Valley home in March by Penny Dewoehrl, president, humane officer and cruelty investigators for All American Ponies Inc., of Parker, a nonprofit organization that protects animals from abuse and neglect.

State police, following up on a 911 hang-up call at the residence, found the dogs living in deplorable condition and called humane officers to investigate. Police have said the call occurred because of poor weather conditions and the owner was not at home.

Grey was charged March 10 with 11 summary offenses of cruelty to animals and three misdemeanors of the same charge. Her attorney declined to comment yesterday.

According to court documents, Grey is accused of willfully withholding food and water from three of the Great Danes knowing that it would cause them to starve to death.

Grey then stored the dead dogs in the bed of a pickup which was parked behind her home, police said in a criminal complaint.

The complaint said Grey did not feed, water or give veterinary care to the nine surviving dogs.

The Kohls have been fostering mother Angie and her daughters Gabby and Monster since March. All three are doing well and have gained at least 30 pounds each, said Noreen Kohl.

"I think they were just so happy to be in a clean place with food and water," she said.

And they have friends -- about 35 large dogs reside at Gentle Ben's Giant Breed Rescue, the Kohls said, some waiting for homes and others are pets. The Kohls were contacted by Dewoehrl and the couple volunteered their time and space for three of the Great Danes.

"They immediately bonded to me," Rich Kohl recalled.

The couple said the dogs were well-mannered, housebroken and understood commands.

"It seemed like at one point they were well-loved," Noreen Kohl said, adding that because the three Great Danes had each other, they adjusted well to life at the rescue.

"From the beginning, they're just confident dogs," Rich Kohl said. "They're three very smart dogs."

It was unclear from court proceedings of the whereabouts of the remaining six dogs. They were transported to a veterinarian after being seized from the home and Dewoehrl said in late March that all nine had been placed in foster homes scattered around the Pittsburgh area.
Source: pittsburghlive.com - Sep 9, 2011
Update posted on Sep 11, 2011 - 5:03PM 

References

« PA State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Armstrong County, PA

Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.

For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.