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Illegal kennel, cruelty to animals, 47 dogs seized
Portage, PA (US)Incident Date: Monday, May 15, 2006
County: Cambria
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Donald Parks - Convicted
» John Parks - Convicted
» Arlene Parks - Convicted
» Virginia Parks - Convicted
» Darlene Parks - Convicted
Case Updates: 6 update(s) available
Four Portage Township residents are facing criminal charges for violating state law by keeping 47 dogs on their property, officials said Monday. Cambria County State Dog Warden Mark Miller said 40 of the dogs removed from the property on Puritan Road were living inside the home and seven were kept outside. Miller, who works for the state Department of Agriculture, refused to name those facing what he described as hundreds of charges. But The Tribune-Democrat has learned that the criminal complaints to be filed at the office of District Judge Galen Decort will name Donald Parks and John Parks as defendants, along with two other as yet unnamed people.
The conditions of the home were deplorable with dog feces scattered about and the health of some of the animals a concern, Miller said. "It was pretty bad,'' Miller said. "We see quite a few messes, but this was the worst I've seen in nine years."
All of the dogs have been checked by a veterinarian and placed in a shelter where they are being evaluated, Miller said. Most of the dogs are mixed breeds of medium size. The dogs were removed from the home after Miller obtained a search warrant based on information that the Parkses had bought licenses from the Cambria County Treasurer's Office for 28 dogs. State law mandates that a person must have a kennel license if he has more than 26 dogs during a one-year period. "Basically what we had was an illegal kennel operation," Miller said. The charges will include dog-law violations and kennel and cruelty-to-animals violations, he said.
It is not the first time Donald and John Parks have had run-ins with authorities. And more problems regarding the exterior of the home could be pending through the Portage Township code-enforcement officer. The two were in Cambria County Court in 2000 after township officials filed charges to force the brothers to remove abandoned vehicles, scrap metal, old tires and other trash from the outside the residence. In an out-of-court settlement, they agreed to operate what they said was a junkyard in compliance with a Portage Township ordinance and eliminate the rodents on their property. As part of the deal, they were to put up a chain-link fence and include barriers to block the view from outside.
The condition of the Parkses property, which apparently never was brought into compliance with the settlement, was brought up at a township meeting this month. Getting the two to comply is again on the front burner. Township Supervisor James Kovach said Monday that the township is limited in its actions to the property surrounding the house only. "We can't do anything about the inside," he said.
State police also were a part of the dog removal carried out last week by Miller, but Sgt. William Bonin said the troopers were there only as backup. The dogs were removed without incident, officials said.
Case UpdatesA Portage Township family who police say chained dozens of dogs together in a room filled with animal feces no longer can have cats and dogs in their home, a Cambria County judge told them.
John, Arlene, Darlene and Virginia Parks were accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program Thursday, allowing them to clear their records if they do not get into trouble again.
But they will serve 30 months' probation for cruelty to animal counts, plus pay $4,975 in restitution to the Cambria County Humane Society for housing and caring for the pets after they were removed from their Puritan Road home.
In a 2006 criminal complaint, a dog warden wrote that about 40 dogs were leashed inside the home and secured by hooks from the ceiling that made them unable to move away from their droppings.
Some of the piles were a foot high.
They shared a single food bowl, also coated with feces, and appeared to be malnourished and dehydrated when investigators found them.
The family couldn't be reached for comment Friday.
Their home was inspected after the Parkses obtained 28 licenses at once through the county Treasurer's Office.
A home with more than 25 dogs is considered a kennel, and at the time, the family was charged with operating an illegal one.
The family also is locked in a dispute over the condition of the home, labeled hazardous by Portage Township and originally set for condemnation.
They were given two months to bring in an exterminator and begin cleaning up their property in July, but they have appealed Senior Judge Thomas Swope's ruling, and it is pending in state Commonwealth Court. | Source: Altoona Mirror - Feb 26, 2007
Update posted on Feb 26, 2007 - 10:42PM |
Four siblings who lived in squalor with about 40 dogs will each spend 2 1/2 years on probation for animal cruelty charges.
Arlene, Darlene, Virginia and John Parks lived together in Portage Township when officials came to remove the dogs from their home last May. Authorities found animal feces a foot deep, trash piled to the ceiling, and rats in the house.
On Thursday, the Parks siblings were accepted into a special probation program. They did not plead guilty and their criminal records will be wiped clean if they do not get in trouble again.
In July, township officials got a court order forcing the Parks siblings to clean up the filth within two months, but the family appealed to Superior Court.
A judge said township officials could rid the property of rodents while the appeal is pending. | Source: Centre Daily - Feb 9, 2007
Update posted on Feb 9, 2007 - 2:37PM |
A family accused of chaining down nearly 50 dogs in a filthy home filled with animal feces has waived their charges to court.
John Parks, 43, and his family - in court over the fate of their "hazardous" Portage Township home - will face trial on more than 100 charges each, primarily cruelty to animals.
"We've seen some pictures, but we think the best thing to do is to take this to [Cambria] county court so we can see all of the evidence," the family's Monroeville attorney, Harvey Daniels, said Wednesday. "There is no admission of guilt here."
The family has been a common sight in courtrooms since a state dog warden found piles of feces and hair and ceiling-high mounds of garbage.
The dogs were leashed inside the home - secured from hooks on the ceiling and unable to move away from their droppings, the warden wrote in a criminal complaint.
The animals shared a single food bowl - also coated with feces - and appeared to be malnourished and dehydrated before they were taken from the property by investigators.
The dogs belong to John, Virginia, Arlene and Darlene Parks, court documents state.
Chris Ryder, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture's Dog Law Enforcement, said a home that has 25 or more dogs is considered a kennel and must have a license.
He said they are inspected regularly, particularly if complaints are called in.
In this case, the warden was tipped off after the Parks family obtained 28 licenses at once through the county Treasurer's Office.
Several dogs did not have current licenses, the criminal complaint states, and an additional charge has been filed accusing the family of operating an illegal kennel.
Prior to a scheduled hearing before District Judge Galen Decort in Portage, Daniels met with a prosecutor from the district attorney's office, discussing the case and viewing pictures taken at the home.
He did not elaborate on the images but said the family believes they took decent care of the animals. | Source: Altoona Mirror - Sept 28, 2006
Update posted on Sep 28, 2006 - 5:48AM |
A Cambria County family -- accused of abusing their 47 pets. Police say the animals were living in their own waste.
The Portage family was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday for their preliminary hearing but the hearing never happened.
The Parks family waived their right to the hearing sending the charges directly to court.
Several Months ago-Officials reported that more than 40 dogs were chained inside a Portage home and forced to live in their own waste. But despite that the attorney representing the Parks family says the siblings still stand a good chance in court. But the Parks weren't talking.
No word on when the Parks case will go to court. | Source: WJAC - Sept 27, 2006
Update posted on Sep 27, 2006 - 8:02PM |
Township officials are seeking a court order to clean up - and possibly tear down - a rat-infested house where they say animal waste is piled a foot high and trash is stacked to the ceiling.
Animal control officers removed 47 dogs from the Portage Township house last month. Officials said the three occupants, who were all charged with cruelty to animals because of the squalid conditions, no longer live there. State police and animal control officials said some dogs were kept on chains in the house that were so short that the animals could not move away from their own waste. Township solicitor C.J. Webb wants a Cambria County judge to issue an order allowing officials to clean up the mess and to tear down the house if it cannot be salvaged otherwise. "It's fairly obvious the condition of the house is not good, and a court order for cleanup may not be physically possible," Webb said. | Source: The State.Com News - June 10, 2006
Update posted on Jun 11, 2006 - 9:02AM |
Four Portage Township siblings have been charged with 161 counts each - including cruelty to animals - after 47 dogs were removed from the home they shared.
Charged were John Parks, 43; Arlene Parks, 33; Virginia Parks, 45; and Darlene Parks, 38. The address for the four is listed as the 1200 block of Puritan Road.
The charges were filed jointly by state police and state Dog Warden Mark Miller at the office of District Judge Galen Decort of Portage. A preliminary hearing date has not been set.
Seven of the dogs were found outside and 40 inside.
State law mandates that a person must have a kennel license if he has more than 26 dogs during a one-year period.
The four apparently did not have a kennel license, but many of the charges stem from the conditions the dogs were living in.
The inside of the home where the Parkses lived was littered with piles of garbage and dog hair and feces measured in inches to feet, Miller said in the criminal complaints.
"Mounds of hair and feces as well as urine-saturated garbage was visible. Upon entry, garbage was stacked to the ceiling," Miller stated in the documents.
Dogs were secured to hooks from the ceiling with short ties - some allowing less than 2 feet of movement - and they were not able to move away from their own feces or urine, the documents stated.
There appeared to be one food or water dish coated with feces available for all 40 of the dogs inside. They appeared to be dehydrated and malnourished with their skeletal structure was visible.
All were matted with feces and urine, the documents stated.
Rodent infestation was visible.
All of the dogs were removed from the property during the second week of May and were examined by a veterinarian, Miller said.
Due to the condition of the home, the family members were taken by ambulance for medical evaluations. Their current whereabouts could not be determined Monday, June 4.
Charges for each of the four include:
. Cruelty to animals because the dogs were forced to live in their own waste.
. Failure to obtain a kennel license.
. Failure to maintain the dogs in a sanitary and humane condition.
. Failure to have the dogs vaccinated against rabies.
. Failure to obtain current dog licenses for 17 of the animals.
Miller said his agency was tipped off to the large number of dogs after the family obtained licenses for 28 of the dogs from the Cambria County Treasurer's Office. | Source: Ttribune-Democrat.com
Update posted on Jun 6, 2006 - 8:13AM |
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