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Kittens removed from Chartiers home require medical care

3 min read
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The kittens removed Thursday by the Washington Area Humane Society police officer from a condemned Chartiers Township home are undergoing medical care for a variety of conditions.

“They are in really bad shape,” Kelly Proudfit, humane society executive director, said Friday. “We almost lost one this morning, but we are doing our best to help them all.”

The nine kittens, an adult male cat and a terrier-type dog were removed from the home of Marci Jo Klinzing and William E. Moore of 28 Crossroads Road.This is the third time in the last 18 months the humane society removed animals from the home.

Judge Michael Lucas, as part of a Dec. 4 plea agreement stemming from a December 2016 incident, ordered the couple not to have any animals for two years.

Last June, dogs, cats, rabbits, ducks, chickens, guineas and a cockatiel-type bird were removed from the property, which is owned by Moore. The couple were charged with 48 counts of animal cruelty and are scheduled for a June 7 pretrial conference in that case.

After the incident last year, the township went to court. Senior Judge William Nalitz ordered Moore to raze the building and clean up the property, declaring the site a nuisance. Moore appealed the decision, but his appeal was dismissed earlier this year, Jodi Noble, township manager, said Thursday.

The township code enforcement officer, accompanied by township police, went to the house to post a notice to vacate the property. Noble said the township plans to seek bids to have the building razed and the property cleaned. When he knocked on the door, the code enforcement officer could hear dogs barking and the sounds of animals inside the house. Police Chief James Horvath then notified humane society police officer Glen Thomson, who went to the house and then obtained a search warrant.

Proudfit said the kittens removed from the house had ear mites, upper respiratory infections and eye infections. They also are on liquids for dehydration. She said there are likely feral cats on the property. The humane society cannot go onto private property and trap the animals.

“We can only go onto private property if we have a search warrant,” Proudfit explained. “And the warrant is only good for a certain time.”

Proudfit expects Thomson will file animal cruelty charges against Klinzing and Moore.

This is the fifth time in a dozen years that authorities have removed animals from that property.

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