Dog neglect, 1 found dead
Boyertown, PA (US)Date: Dec 29, 2003
Disposition: Convicted
Abuser/Suspect: Jeffrey A. Helverson
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The neglect of two caged dogs that resulted in the death of one and a severe neck wound from a metal chain to the other has landed a former Stowe man behind bars.
Jeffrey A. Helverson, formerly of the 200 block of School Lane, Stowe, and most recently of the 400 block of East Philadelphia Avenue, Boyertown, was sentenced to four to 23 months in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after he pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty to animals. Under a plea agreement accepted by Judge William T. Nicholas, Helverson, 39, must also serve three years� probation after he�s paroled from jail.
According to a criminal complaint filed by West Pottsgrove police, authorities went to the School Lane home on Dec. 29, 2003, to investigate a report of a dead dog on the premises. When police arrived at the home, which was owned by Helverson, they found two metal dog cages joined together but divided in the middle by a metal fence.
In one cage police found extremely "old looking food" in a dish and a dead cocker spaniel named "CJ," according to the criminal complaint.
In the second cage, police found a terrier known as "Pete," an empty food dish, a bucket filled with brown water, dirt and leaves and three raw, uneaten rib bones, court documents indicate.
"The water bucket was sitting inside the cage in such a position that the terrier... could not reach the water, due to the length of the chain he was attached to," West Pottsgrove Police Officer Steven Bacharach wrote in the criminal complaint. "Pete appeared very emaciated."
Police and members of the Montgomery County SPCA, who took possession of Pete, also discovered a "large open wound" on Pete�s neck, which apparently was caused by the chain, court documents indicate.
"The wound also appeared to have been untreated for numerous weeks," Bacharach said.
During police interviews, Helverson admitted being the primary caretaker of both dogs and explained he moved from the School Lane property several weeks earlier due to financial difficulties and left both dogs behind, court documents indicate.
Helverson, according to the arrest affidavit, admitted to last feeding the dogs between Dec. 15 and Dec. 19.
"Helverson admitted to not having anyone else care for the dogs at any time," Bacharach said.
The animal cruelty case was not Helverson�s first brush with the law.
In July 2001, Helverson, then of Walnut Ridge Estates, was sentenced to three years� probation after he admitted to filing a false insurance claim for damage to his car.
According to court documents, Helverson claimed that his 1987 Chrysler LeBaron was parked on an East High Street parking lot on Sept. 4, 2000, when it was struck by a pickup truck that was operated by another man fleeing from a stabbing incident.
However, police used crime scene photographs and a blood trail from the stabbing investigation to prove that Helverson�s car was never parked near the stabber�s getaway truck on the parking lot of the Sanatoga Thriftway.
When Helverson was charged with animal cruelty, he was still on probation for the insurance fraud incident. Helverson admitted that he violated his probation with the new arrest. Helverson�s four- to 23-month sentence for the probation violation will run at the same time as his sentence for the animal cruelty charge. References« Back to Search Results
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