Eighteen dead cats found in North Charleroi home
Owner jailed on animal cruelty charges
Charleroi Regional Police filed felony charges against a North Charleroi man after a search of his residence Wednesday revealed 18 dead cats and another 20 cats that were allegedly neglected.
Joseph B. McKenna Jr. is facing 18 felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty and 20 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, a police officer was dispatched to the 400 block of Fourth Street in North Charleroi on Wednesday morning after a neighbor reported seeing two dead cats in garbage bags on the property and an odor of dead animals.
As the officer walked up the sidewalk to the front door, he saw the garbage bags that were covered in maggots and flies.
The officer walked to the rear of the three-story home and noticed the yard filled with garbage, and saw through a window into the kitchen a “black and white cat with a dark liquid coming from its mouth,” according to the affidavit.
Inside the home, the officer reported seeing rooms covered in animal feces, dust and visible garbage.
The officer then contacted Union Township Animal Control Officer Kym Secreet and Humane Officer Gretchen Glasser, who advised the officer to obtain a warrant to search the property.
A subsequent search of the home revealed 18 dead cats in “various stages of decomposition” as well as 20 other felines running loose across the property.
The officer was unable to determine the exact number of living animals remaining inside the house due to “extensive unsanitary conditions as well as cats being inside the walls,” according to the affidavit.
Court documents state McKenna told investigators he was having mental health issues and unable to properly care for the animals.
McKenna was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Eric Glenn Porter Wednesday afternoon and placed in Washington County jail after failing to post $25,000 bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 3, according to court records.