Police Responding To Home Invasion Call Find 30 Animals Living In Squalor
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- Police responding to a call about a potential home invasion in Westmoreland County ended up finding dozens of animals in a filthy house.
Stephanie Little, 27, and Roni Boltich, 34, called State Police, believing someone was trying to break into their home.
Police arrived on the scene, but there was nobody trying to break into the home. Troopers determined the women may have been high and hallucinating.
Troopers did find, however, 30 animals inside the home, living in squalor.
"I thought, here we go again. Something we see very often, unfortunately," humane officer Erin Cassidy said.
When Cassidy entered the home to check on the animals' welfare, she saw the home was "in pretty bad shape."
"There was a lot of feces and things like that. It was obvious there was some issue for the residents," she said.
In addition to three dogs, seven cats were surrendered, along with more than a dozen fish and a bearded lizard.
Little and Boltich admitted to investigators that they had used heroin before calling police, and their battle with drugs was impacting the animals.
Cassidy says based on the animals' dispositions, she doesn't think the women abused their pets.
"It's just a sad situation here. I think that they loved their animals very much, but I think they have issues of their own that kinda resulted in a secondary type of neglect," Cassidy said.
State Police charged Little and Boltich with drug counts. Potential animal neglect charges have not been ruled out, but Cassidy says the pet owners' cooperation will be taken into account.
"Nobody wins here, but these animals will be placed in wonderful homes and they will receive the best possible care at the humane society," she said.
The animals are now being cared for by the Humane Society of Westmoreland County.
