WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — Police are looking for a woman who they say abandoned her emaciated dogs.
Police arrested Kimbre Hatcher on Sunday after she was caught squatting inside a home in West Middletown Township with her two dogs.
Investigators say Hatcher refused to surrender her animals but insisted they had food and water. After her release from jail several days later, she disappeared, abandoning the dogs which police say were starving.
A neighbor who recently bought the home in an auction called police to check on the dogs which he didn’t know were living there before Sunday.
“Horrible. Dog manure everywhere, toilets haven’t been flushed because there wasn’t water. Dishes all over the place and the garage was filled with garbage,” he said.
When asked if he knew how long she had been squatting there, he said, “I have no idea. No idea whatsoever. We had no way of knowing. We’ve never seen them outside, the dogs were never allowed out.”
The PA Humane officer who runs C.R.I.C.A.A.T, a non-profit animal rescue group, rescued both dogs. She entered the home with state police officers who said the two dogs were very emaciated, malnourished and dehydrated, with no food or water available. According to the criminal complaint, the dogs were found consuming plastic bottles in an attempt to eat.
Neighbors who witnessed the rescue praised C.R.I.C.A.A.T, thanking the officer for her volunteer work and taking in the dogs.
“They were just so happy to see somebody, they weren’t vicious or anything. You could see every rib in their body. They were dehydrated, hadn’t been fed and it makes you want to cry.”
State police have a warrant out for Hatcher’s arrest. She’s facing multiple felony animal cruelty charges, including torture.
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