BELLE VERNON, Pa. — A Fayette County man is facing more than 928 animal cruelty charges after 101 dogs and two cats were taken from his home.
More than half of them are getting a second chance after being rescued from what state police describe as an illegal kennel.
After a months-long investigation, charges were just filed against John Saxberg of Washington Township. They say the 103 animals were living in his home between April and June of this year.
The State Police Animal Cruelty Unit says Saxberg took 39 dogs to a rescue himself; the other 62 dogs and two cats were removed from his property.
“It was not a good environment for humans or animals to be living in, so unfortunately there were both humans and animals living in that environment,” said Ruth Thompson, the founder of The ANNA Shelter in Erie.
Many of the animals are now at ANNA because the facility is specially equipped to handle large-scale animal seizures.
“Some of them are still pretty shy,” Thompson said about the dogs she’s been caring for from the seizure. “When you have one person living with 100 dogs, they’re not handled very well; they’re not socialized.”
State police say they developed evidence indicating the property may have been operating as an unlicensed kennel. In Pennsylvania, a kennel license is required for any establishment that keeps more than 26 dogs in a calendar year.
“Dogs are very instinctual. (Their) basic needs were not being met,” said Thompson. “That’s where a lot of the issues come, whether that be temperament or the health of those animals was not good.”
She says several of the dogs didn’t make it. But many more did. Some just needed basic grooming; others required more extensive care.
“Some really acclimated quickly,” Thompson said. “It didn’t take long for some of the puppies to figure us out. Some of the older dogs are struggling with this whole transition.”
The dogs came in between three weeks old and 10 years old. Of the dozens they had, Ruth says 33 are still at The ANNA Shelter, and either are or will need to find a family to love them.
“I want them to adopt them. If they can’t adopt, I want them to certainly share our social media posts.”
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