Charleroi man charged with neglecting sheep at Fayette property
A Charleroi man was charged Friday with allegedly neglecting eight sheep he kept at a Fayette County property.
Veerasammy Perumal, 61, faces 24 counts of neglect of animals and seven counts of cruelty to animals.
State police said a humane officer discovered the animals at a Perry Road home in Jefferson Township on June 18. The complaint alleged they had not been sheared, lacked adequate food and water, and some were injured. Police also found the body of a dead sheep in a shelter that had been set up for the animals.
Perumal reportedly told police he didn’t know how to shear sheep, and said they had never been vaccinated or dewormed.
Police contacted a sheep shearer to attend to the animals and collected wool from each in separate 40-gallon trash bags that were filled “to the top,” according to the complaint.
Perumal told police he had the sheep to keep the grass short at the property.
A preliminary hearing date has not yet been set.