DELAWARE – Forty dogs that were removed from a Delaware County property last week have been declared abandoned and forfeited to the care of the Delaware County Dog Shelter, officials said.
The pit bulls and pit-bull mixes were removed from the Kingston Township property on April 7 after a witness filed a statement alleging the dogs were being kept in “abusive conditions,” according to a release from the Delaware County commissioners.
The signed statement allowed the shelter staff to obtain a search warrant and enter the property to remove the dogs.
Thirty charges were filed on April 11 against property owner Robert Phillips, Jr., for first-degree and second-degree misdemeanors involving “prohibitions concerning companion animals.”
Phillips failed to appear at a show-cause hearing Wednesday in Delaware Municipal Court so Judge Marianne Hemmeter declared the animals abandoned. They are currently being housed and cared for at the county’s dog shelter and at the Humane Society of Delaware County’s facility.
Delaware County Dog Warden Mitchell Garrett anticipates most of the dogs will be transferred to the care of rescue groups, such as the Humane Society of Delaware County, with expertise in rehabilitating abused animals.