Police: Evicted Tenants Left Caged Dog Behind Without Food, Water
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PENN TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- Police say a man and a woman left a caged dog in their Westmoreland County apartment without food or water after they were evicted.
Harley, a 2-year-old male mixed beagle, is now on the way to good health.
According to police, his owners -- 43-year-old Tammy Casteel and Jason Cooksey -- left the dog behind when they moved out of a Penn Township apartment.
The couple was evicted on July 12. Two days later, neighbors called police because they heard a dog crying inside Casteel and Cooksey's old apartment.
"No air conditioning. It's in an apartment building with closed windows. Over 80 degrees in the apartment, so the animal was definitely suffering and definitely was not being cared for," Penn Township Police Chief John Otto said.
Harley was left in a cage, living in his own waste without food or water, and the story gets worse.
"The bruises, the loss of hair, the malnutrition -- those type of things indicated to a vet that this animal spent a large amount of time in that cage. No food, no water, no care," Otto said.
It sounds like the poor animal was in that cage long before Casteel and Cooksey were evicted, and according to investigators, they came back to the apartment several times after they were put out.
"They had made a couple of return trips to pick up some things that they felt were valuable enough to take with them, and the dog was not one of those items," Otto said.
Harley is now in a shelter home and being cared for by a vet.
Otto says they were able to locate and speak with Casteel and Cooksey. Both have been charged with animal cruelty and neglect.