Bentleyville man found guilty of animal cruelty, case of keeping hybrid wolves continued
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Fredrick Frameli and his attorney going into District Judge Curtis Thompson for pre-limb hearing in Bentleyville on Wednesday, September 27, 2017.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Fredrick Frameli enters District Judge Curtis Thompson’s office for preliminary hearing in this file photo.
A Bentleyville man was found guilty of 12 counts of animal cruelty in a summary trial Wednesday while the case accusing him of having hybrid wolves was continued until DNA test results are complete on those animals.
Frederick Frameli, 67, of 120 Spring St., was found guilty by District Judge Curtis Thompson on 11 counts filed for failure to provide adequate food and water for the dogs and one count for holding a dog’s head under water following the four-hour hearing.
Frameli was found not guilty on one count of animal cruelty for allegedly slamming a dog to the ground.
Thompson dismissed 11 counts of animal cruelty for failing to provide sanitary conditions for the animals, calling them redundant because it was covered in the same subsection of the law as the failure to provide food and water for the animals.
Agents with Washington Area Humane Society accompanied by Pennsylvania Game Commission officers served a search warrant Aug. 23 at Frameli’s home in response to a complaint from on of his neighbors of possible animal cruelty.
They seized the suspected hybrid wolves as well as 11 German shepherd or German shepherd-type dogs.
Chelsei Fleegal, a veterinary technician at the humane society, said full evaluations of the dogs were done. Their body indexes ranged from 1 to 3 on a range of up to 9, indicating they were severely to notably underweight.
The dogs weighed 30 to 40 pounds, when they should weigh 80 to 100 pounds. She went through the humane society records, noting how much each dog weighed when it came into the humane society.
“They went directly after food,” Fleegal said of the animals when they were brought into the shelter. “They drank so much water, some of them threw up bile.”
Two of the dogs were caked with feces and urine stains. Four had burns on their paws. Fleegal said one of the dogs has had behavioral issues, especially when it rans.
Frameli, who testified in his own defense, said some of the dogs suffered from medical conditions. His attorney noted Frameli paid $8,000 for treatment of one of the dogs at a Pittsburgh-area emergency veterinary clinic. Fleegal said the dogs were tested negative for the condition some of them reportedly had based on what they were told by Frameli.
Frameli told Thompson he considers the dogs “his family,” saying he carefully fed them and monitored them when they ate so they would not vomit.
Frameli also claimed it was those who served the search warrant that trashed his house. His defense attorney, William McCormick, called witnesses who said Framelli kept a clean home.
Laura Maloney, a humane society police officer, testified she took the photographs at Framelli’s home. She also said she proceeds in every case the same way, taking photos of conditions. Maloney also refuted Frameli’s claim he did not know what he was signing when he relinquished the animals to the humane society because he was not permitted to retrieve his glasses from his home during the search. She explained she read the form to him at least twice, saying she does this for every case.
Thompson fined Framelli $100 for each count of animal cruelty regarding the food and water plus ordered him to pay $300 in resitutition for each animal to the humane society. He also is not permitted to own animals for three years. The judge fined Framelli $500 for the charge involving holding the dog’s head under water.
The judge also explained to Framelli that he could appeal the decision to Washington County Common Pleas Court.
The suspected hybrid wolves remain at at Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania in Lititz where the DNA testing was done. Wildlife Officer Richard Joyce charged Framelli with three counts of keeping suspected wolf dog hybrids without a permit. Joyce told Thompson the DNA results should be known within a few days.