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Two from Chartiers face animal cruelty charges

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Two Chartiers Township residents charged by a Washington County humane officer with animal cruelty face further court proceedings after a preliminary hearing Tuesday.

Marci Jo Klinzing, 49, and William E. Moore, 69, are each charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to an animal resulting in death and 18 counts of neglect of an animal for failure to provide food, water and veterinary care to the animals removed from their house at 8 Crossroads Road May 24.

Moore waived his case to court. Klinzing was ordered held for court by District Judge David Mark after Glen Thomson, the humane police officer for Washington Area Humane Society, swore the contents of the affidavit of probable cause were true and correct. No testimony was heard during the proceeding.

Thomson, in court documents, indicated he got a call from Chartiers police about animals being inside the house. The two had been previously banned by a court order from Judge Michael Lucas from having animals for 24 months. The order stemmed from animal cruelty charges filed against them by Thomson after animals were removed from the home in June 2017. That case is still pending in Washington County Court with another proceeding scheduled for Aug. 7 before Judge John DiSalle.

When Thomson arrived at the house in May, he knocked on the door and could hear a dog barking from inside. As he approached the house, he smelled an odor of feces and urine. He obtained a search warrant and removed 10 animals from the house. All 10 animals were examined by a veterinarian and determined to be in poor condition. A kitten died a day after arriving at the humane society shelter.

After last year’s incident, 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 judge’s decision, but his appeal was dismissed.

Jodi Noble, township manager, said the township has submitted an application to the state Department of Environmental Protection for permission to have the fire department burn down the house as a training exercise. The township is seeking quotes on having the site cleaned after the house is burned. Noble hopes to award a contract for the cleanup at the July 24 meeting of the board of supervisors.

The township recently placed concrete barriers at the end of the driveway to restrict access to the house.

The two remain free on their own recognizance. They will be formally arraigned on the recent charges Aug. 30.

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