Dog found dead in Fayette County after living outside for a month, police say
Two people are facing charges after a dog that had been living outside for a month in Fayette County died, police said.
Court paperwork shows Lindsay Lee Ward and Joseph H Sherwood Jr. are facing a slew of animal cruelty and animal neglect charges after police said they left the dog outside without food, water or shelter for several days, including during the heat wave the Pittsburgh area just experienced.
Pennsylvania State Police said they were called to East Broadway Street in Dunbar Township on June 29 for calls about a dead dog in the backyard of a home. Police said they found the dog leashed by its collar to a metal pole. There was no food or water, and in the criminal complaint, troopers wrote that the dog had been living without shade or shelter "for a significant time frame."
Police said they found Sherwood on the couch, "highly unresponsive and un-alert." He admitted the dog was his but couldn't answer any other questions because of his physical condition, police said. He was taken to a hospital.
Neighbors told police that Ward lived with Sherwood and cared for the dog. Police said the neighbors they talked to agreed that the dog had been living outside in the current conditions for about a month.
"It is to say that the dog being exposed to the sunlight/heat for several days at a time, wherein the average temperature within the last week was approximately 90 degrees Fahrenheit, in addition to not having any access to food or water," police wrote in the criminal complaint.
It's the most recent case of animal abuse in the Pittsburgh area, especially as the region experienced several days of 90-degree temperatures toward the end of June.
A Pittsburgh woman was charged after police said she left her two dogs outside in 90-degree temperatures for two days, giving both of them heat stroke. In Westmoreland County, a shelter is trying to figure out who dumped a box of three emaciated puppies along a trail in Greensburg last week.
Also in Westmoreland County, police recently seized three dogs and found the bodies of two others, leading to charges against two people. In that case, police said neighbors had dozens of videos that showed a man abusing his dogs for months.
