A couple from Moosic are charged with animal abuse shortly after a dog in their care starved to death.
Ronald Surplus, 26, and Amanda Fisher, 34, 610D Rocky Glen Road, are each charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, cruelty to animals, neglect of animal and related counts.
Police began investigating when they received a call Oct. 27 about an English bulldog laying by the front steps of a home on Eighth Street.
The dog had lost most of its body mass and was too weak to get underneath a mobile home and out of the rain, police said.
Authorities took the dog to a veterinary hospital for treatment, but the dog later died. A necropsy later determined the dog died of emaciation, severe dehydration, a flea infestation and a disease that causes vomiting and bloody diarrhea.
The dog’s microchip was registered to Surplus’ mother, Helen Brady, who investigators said had been visiting her son.
Their investigation took them to Surplus and Fisher, who initially denied they knew anything about the English bulldog. Then, Fisher acknowledged that Helen Brady had left them the dog for a few weeks.
Surplus told police he gave the dog to someone else, but the time frame did not match up with the dog’s discovery. Police accused him of trying to mislead them.
Meanwhile, authorities found three more dogs and four or five cats in their mobile home. Police described some of them as clearly unhealthy and neglected.
A beagle was flea-infested, had hair loss, scabbed skin and smelled foul. The ribs and vertebrae of a mixed-breed dog were visible. Another mixed-breed dog had overgrown nails, a foul odor and redness on the inside of its thigh due to fleas.
Magisterial District Judge Paul Keeler set bail for Surplus and Fisher at $15,000 each. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for 11:15 a.m. Monday.
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