A Springdale man has been charged with multiple animal cruelty charges after police received a complaint that two dogs were being abused at his residence.
On July 29, Springdale Borough Police responded to a call about two dogs that were never let out to go to the bathroom, according to court documents obtained on Aug. 10.
Upon arriving at the home, located on Rosslyn Avenue, officers could hear one of the dogs howling "as if something was wrong," the complaint said. Officers attempted to make contact with the homeowner, Joshua Pawlak, 35, by repeatedly knocking on the door.
When no one answered, an officer walked around the property to check on the dogs. Looking through one of the ground floor windows, he saw what appeared to be a child's bedroom with messes on the floor.
The home appeared to be in "deplorable condition," the complaint said.
Officers then attempted to call Pawlak on the phone but were unsuccessful in contacting him.
After obtaining a warrant, police returned to the property around 7:45 p.m., where they smelled a "pungent odor of ammonia and feces," when entering the residence. Once inside, the officers found two dogs, named CoCo and Hershey, locked in cages without food or water in the front room of the residence. Both dogs were covered in urine, feces and fleas, court documents said.
While police were looking around the property, Pawlak arrived home in his car. Police had already requested animal control services by that time.
Police discovered that he had suspended drivers license from a DUI.
Accoding to court documents, officers also found items of drug manufacturing material. They asked Pawlak for permission to search and were ultimately denied.
Police later filed a separate search warrant.
Pawlak called a family member to ask if they would take the dogs, but was told no due to their condition.
Both dogs were unregistered and had not been vaccinated for rabies, the complaint said.
On Monday, animal control contacted police to report that one of the collars or another type of cloth had become embedded into one of the dog's neck, causing an 1.5 inch laceration, according to court documents.