By Rick Dandes
HICKORY CORNERS -- The 50 cats and two dogs abandoned inside a rural Northumberland County apartment will be taken away today, ending a Valley police chief's weeklong search for help in removing the animals.
Lower Mahanoy Township Police Chief Randall Wynn will breath a sigh of relief when animal cruelty officers from the Philadelphia branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals arrive at 313 Dairy Road, Apartment No. 1.
Wynn was alerted Friday about the animals by neighbors in the duplex.
Six people were living in the two-story apartment "” a married couple, their children and a girl "” said neighbors who asked to remain anonymous.
"We really need something to be done," the frustrated neighbor said. "I can't take the smell. But I deal with it."
Numerous calls had been made to the Philadelphia SPCA, "including calls made by friends and by our local constable," she said. "Nothing has come of it."
The Danville SPCA is not empowered to help. The facility's mission is now focused solely on serving as a shelter.
Wynn's investigation showed that the residents moved out, but returned numerous times and left bags of food out for the animals. The former residents also tried to clean the mess inside the residence.
From outside the apartment Wednesday, cats could be seen lounging on a window sill and on furniture inside. Dogs barked from the upstairs rooms.
Wynn said he tried to find homes for the cats and dogs, but could not locate a shelter willing to accept them. The former residents who own the cats showed Wynn paperwork suggesting that they had been trying to get the animals placed elsewhere. Because of their efforts, Wynn said he couldn't justify charging the unidentified former residents with abandoning the animals.
Neighbors, meanwhile, continued to complain about the stench.
Animal cruelty investigations are handled by the SPCA's Philadelphia office. Complaints about suspected cases of animal abuse are supposed to be directed to the Philadelphia office, where dispatchers contact a local investigator.
Efforts to remove the animals became bogged down because the animal cruelty officer assigned to Northumberland County no longer works for the SPCA, leaving the organization without a point person in the county.
George Bengal, director of law enforcement for the Pennsylvania SPCA in Philadelphia, said there are only three cruelty inspector officers in Eastern Pennsylvania, based in Monroe, Lycoming and Lancaster counties.
"We're stretched thin," he said. "When a situation arises such as the one in Northumberland, we will swear in officers and rectify the situation."
