Hoarding - 42 animals seized
Upper Milford Township, PA (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Sep 27, 2005
County: Lehigh
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Peter A. Piraino
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
The Lehigh County Humane Society removed 42 abandoned and neglected animals, mostly cats and dogs, from a home in Upper Milford Township on Sept 27 and plan to charge the former occupant with 60 to 70 counts of animal cruelty.
The animals were found on property rented in the 5900 block of Furnace Hill Road by Peter Piriano.
''[The animals'] conditions were really severe as far as upper respiratory is concerned,'' said Orlando Aguirre, the Humane Society's police officer, describing the finding as one of the biggest animal cruelty cases in county history.
''They do need medical attention immediately, which we will provide,'' Aguirre said.
Aguirre said he will file charges against Piriano with District Judge Donna Butler in the next few days. Piriano, who was not home during the removal of the animals, has been evicted from the property, Aguirre said, adding that he has not been able to locate him.
''I've been posting his property in order to get a hold of him, but no responses,'' Aguirre said.
He said the property was covered with excrement. The smell of urine was so strong that it prevented him and his colleagues from making a detailed examination.
Investigators found 30 cats locked in an outside shed, he said. One was dead, and others had eyes missing, possibly gouged out by other animals, he said.
They found 12 other animals � five dogs, four cats, one guinea pig, and two rabbits � in or around the house, he said.
The guinea pig was dead, and the five dogs were lying in excrement inside of crates with no food or water, he said.
Aguirre said he had visited Piriano in August ago after the landlord complained of a stench coming from the property.
Aguirre recalled telling Piriano then that he had too many animals.
''He said he loved his animals, and that's why he was keeping them,'' Aguirre said. ''He said he collected strays.
Aguirre said Piriano then kept about five cats in the shed, which has no ventilation. Piriano promised then to remove the cats, he said.
If convicted, Piriano could get up to 90 days in jail and up to $750 in fines for each charge, Aguirre said.
Case UpdatesMatthew Lipp wanted three trees planted, about 70 plants, three stone walls and a walkway built at his Lower Macungie Township home. Lipp said Peter A. Piraino of Ash Tree Landscaping told him he could do the job for $10,000.
Three weeks later, Lipp said, after giving Piraino $6,700, he had no new trees or plants, no stone walls and no walkway. What he did have was a complaint, which he took to South Whitehall Township police.
Lipp was not alone. He is one of 27 people in four counties, including 23 in Lehigh County, who police said were victims of fraud by Piraino.
Piraino accepted a total of about $168,000 for home remodeling projects between March and September from clients in Lehigh, Northampton, Montgomery and Chester counties, but never completed the work, according to police.
Through interviews with people named in the probable cause affidavit filed in the case, a pattern emerged: Piraino typically showed clients a portfolio with pictures of finished work. He requested money up front and did minor prep work before requesting more money for materials to finish the job.
Then he would disappear, victims said.
Piraino faces 61 counts of charges that include 24 counts each of theft by deception and receiving stolen property, 12 for bad checks and one for deceptive or fraudulent business practices, according to the complaint filed with District Judge Patricia Warmkessel of South Whitehall. Police said they are unable to locate him.
Charges of animal cruelty are pending against Piraino after dozens of sick animals were seized from an Upper Milford Township home he was evicted from two weeks ago, police said.
Piraino, 54, conducted business under the names Ash Tree Landscaping and Affordable Remodeling and faced fraud charges in the past.
Of the victims identified in the affidavit, four live in South Whitehall, three in Allentown, nine in Lower Macungie Township, one in Macungie, two in North Whitehall Township, one in Upper Milford, three in Emmaus and one in Allen Township.
Two others live in Montgomery County � one in East Norriton Township and one in New Hanover Township � and one in Uwchlan Township, Chester County.
Lipp said the work on his home stopped after he paid Piraino money for materials.
Piraino gave a number of excuses for not finishing the work: the contractor's workers had to return to Mexico for a crisis; he had totaled his truck; he had been robbed; he had cancer, Lipp said.
When he reappeared � six weeks into a job that was supposed to last only two weeks � he said he needed more money to finish.
''When I told him I wouldn't give him any more money, he never showed up again,'' Lipp said.
Workers allegedly not paid
Anthony Mannion said he paid Piraino $15,000 to build a patio and wall at his Brookside home in Lower Macungie. But he said he ended his association with the contractor when he discovered shoddy work and complaints from Piraino's workers who said they were never paid.
''The job was not professional at all, it was sloppy work,'' Mannion said. ''He doesn't put enough stone underneath [the patio and wall], everything was crooked.''
Mannion said four men who worked for Piraino came to his house one day asking for their paychecks. He told the men he paid Piraino for the work they had done.
''Then he [Piraino] called and I told him I wanted nothing more to do with him,'' Mannion said.
Terresa and Steve Balestracci came upon Piraino as he worked on another house in their Lower Macungie neighborhood. They hired him to build a couple of stone walls and a patio last spring after Piraino pointed to a neighboring house with attractive landscaping as a sample of his work.
The couple said they learned later that Piraino had never worked on that house when they signed a $25,000 contract with him, paying him an initial $5,000.
Things started to go awry after Piraino received a second $5,000 payment for ''materials,'' they said.
''He started not showing up,'' Steve Balestracci said.
The couple finally asked for half the money back. When Piraino told them he had spent it, they asked what he had purchased, and he replied it was none of their concern, they said.
The Balestraccis said they reported the matter to state police, who said they should work things out with Piraino.
''I really have lost faith in the legal system,'' Terresa Balestracci said.
Piraino advertised in Valpak, an advertising and coupon business, for five months. Joel Katzman, a Valpak manager, said complaints about Piraino started coming in after the fourth month.
''When you get a first complaint, you don't know,'' said Katzman, adding that Piraino bounced a $1,000 check to him. ''Then we got a second and we said: 'Oh my God this doesn't sound right.' And then the police called.''
Police said Piraino also passed bad checks to his landlord.
On Sept. 27, Humane Society officials found 42 cats, dogs and other animals in the Upper Milford home that Piraino had been evicted from the week before, said Humane Society police officer Orlando Aguirre. Two dead animals were found during the raid and 10 more have since died, said Aguirre, who said animal cruelty charges are pending against Piraino.
Piraino was charged by Chester County detectives in 1998 with accepting money from clients for services he never performed. The victims included a Downingtown couple who paid him $65,500 for a home addition, according to a probable cause affidavit. He was also charged with not paying subcontractors, it said.
Piraino was placed on probation for five years after pleading guilty in 1999 to theft charges in the Chester County case, said Larry Scherff, the county's director of Adult Probation and Parole. Piraino received a second five years of probation after a violation hearing in January, Scherff said.
Dykie said his department doesn't plan to charge Piraino. Instead, a detective coerced the contractor to finish work on a couple of jobs, Dykie said.
Audrey Polce doesn't want Piraino to finish the job at her Lower Macungie house. She and her husband Michael lost a $5,000 installment after signing an $11,500 contract with Piraino for a new driveway, patio and stone wall. Michael Polce said Piraino started the patio and driveway, but never finished them. The Polces have hired a new contractor to finish the job.
Audrey Polce said she should have been tipped off by something that happened when she and her husband met Piraino.
Moments after Piraino approached them outside of their home, a woman drove up, said he had worked for her, and told them they would be smart to hire him.
''I think it was a setup,'' Polce said. | Source: The Morning Call - Oct 9, 2005
Update posted on Oct 10, 2005 - 11:10PM |
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