Animal Cruelty

Animal-cruelty charges were dropped yesterday against a former Moorestown police officer accused of bestiality. Robert Melia Jr., 39, still faces charges of sexually assaulting three girls between 2000 and 2008. Prosecutors say he molested the children with former girlfriend Heather Lewis, 33, of Pemberton Township. State Superior Court Judge James J. Morley approved Melia's motion yesterday to strike the animal-cruelty charges from the indictment. Authorities claimed to have videos of Melia engaging in sex acts with cows.

In the third such incident in less than a week, Philadelphia youths were arrested yesterday on charges of cruelty to animals involving dog fighting, police said. Three youths were arrested about 1:30 p.m. at a vacant house in the 2600 block of Seltzer Street in North Philadelphia, according to police, who said they found five pit bull terriers - two of them dead and the three others with numerous wounds - at the address. The names of the three youths were withheld because of they are juveniles.

Leah Whitesell knows what to do about two men suspected in a pit-bull fighting operation, but what to do with the dogs she rescued is a tougher case to crack. Whitesell, the animal-control officer for the Atlantic County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said yesterday she intends to charge Eric Bell of the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia and Michael Amaro of Clifton, N.J., with 22 counts each of animal cruelty, probably by the end of the week. Whitesell found about 35 dogs last week, hungry, dehydrated and beat up, at a property in Mullica Township, a remote section of Atlantic County that authorities believe was used for illegal pit-bull fighting.

Chuck McDevitt took the job of public relations manager of the Chester County SPCA last year because he wanted to help people understand the responsibility of pet ownership. But lately, he's been working closely with local police departments, taking part in the investigation of three chilling animal cruelty cases. In April, three pygmy goats were found mutilated in East Bradford, a short distance from Strodes Mill Gallery Inc. In October, one pit bull was found dead and another was found starving in the 300 block of South Adams Street in West Chester.

Inside the house, a bloodstained fighting pit lay unassembled on the floor. In the basement was an "isolation" room for pre-fight training. There were treadmills, scales, drugs and detailed training and performance reports. Outside, each one chained to a round concrete slab, were 11 pit bull terriers, most with scars on their heads and bodies. Cages containing 40 fighting cocks were scattered in the 10 acres of woods. Several dead roosters were also found. Police and animal-cruelty agents in Bucks County say that was the scene Saturday night during a raid at the home of Edward M. Stevenson, who is suspected of running illegal cock and dog fights at his house on Farm School Lane in Bedminster Township.

MOST OF Virginia Wetzel's Port Richmond neighbors never saw her bring home a dog or a cat. But they could hear constant barking from her house on Monmouth Street near Belgrade all day long, block residents said. And none of them - absolutely none - was safe from the odor of urine and feces that permeated the air, and their homes. "My son can't open his windows because of the smell," said Mary Beth Sgrillo, 40, whose home faces one side of Wetzel's property. She was one of many neighbors who said they had run-ins with Wetzel over the years.

The man who hurts animals is often well on his way to hurting his children, his wife and strangers, a study predicts. And that is why law-enforcement officials need to treat animal-cruelty cases more seriously, says the Humane Society of the United States. "The guy who burns the neighbor's cat is not otherwise a normal member of society," said Carter Luke, vice president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "These are dangerous people for whom violence and physical abuse are often a way of life.

IN LIFE, people always want to keep up with the Joneses. But not James Jones, who allegedly stabbed his dog to death with a 30-inch samurai sword (July 16). The mere mental image is enough to give a child nightmares for years. I realize that this will be labeled nothing more than animal cruelty, and will draw a fine and perhaps some jail time. Funny, but I thought the definition of murder was when you killed something. If it were a child he did this to, he'd be looking at the needle.

A former curator of Norristown's Elmwood Park Zoo was found guilty yesterday of 223 counts of cruelty to animals and sentenced to 90 days in prison in a case that local SPCA officials said was one of the worst in Montgomery County and possibly the state. Joseph W. Marchese, 46, of the 700 block of Kohn Street, Norristown, also was sentenced to pay a fine of $5,450 and make restitution in "a reasonable amount" to the Montgomery County SPCA. In late March, the SPCA removed numerous malnourished and dead animals from a Limerick Township property that Marchese rented in the 100 block of Major Road.

The Humane Society of the United States will be offering a one-day seminar for area law enforcement on animal cruelty investigations, the organization announced. The training, through the affiliated Humane Society University, will be on Wednesday at the New Castle County Police Southern Headquarters in Middletown, Del. The course will include information on drafting arrest and search warrants, preparing for prosecution and testifying in court. Animal cruelty laws, including those for dog fighting, are on the books in all 50 states, but are often a low priority for prosecutors, according to the group.

A woman who operated what she called an animal rescue operation has been charged with 43 counts of animal cruelty after sick and underweight animals were found in her filthy Delaware County house, the Pennsylvania SPCA announced Friday. Last month, PSPCA officers, executing a search warrant, removed 28 dogs from Sixth Angel Shepherd Rescue Inc., which Terry Silva, 53, operated out of her Marcus Hook property. Many of the dogs - German shepherds and shepherd mixes - were ill, the agency said.

A woman who operated what she described as an animal "rescue" operation has been charged with 43 counts of animal cruelty after sick and underweight animals were found in a filthy Delaware County house, the Pennsylvania SPCA announced Friday. Last month, PSPCA officers, executing a search warrant, removed 28 dogs from Sixth Angel Shepherd Rescue Inc., which Terry Silva, 53, she operated out of her Marcus Hook property. Many of the dogs - all of them German Shepherd and "Shepherd mixes" - were ill, the agency said.

If someone kidnapped puppies and kittens, tied ropes around their necks, stuffed them into tiny boxes, and then released them to be shot at close range, it would be considered intolerably cruel. But substitute pigeons for puppies, and it's tolerated as a biweekly sporting event in Berks County. Astonishingly, pigeon shoots are still going on in Pennsylvania, and game officials have done little to stop them. Even though bills to explicitly outlaw the hideous practice have been repeatedly introduced in the legislature over the years, none has progressed beyond committee approval.

HARRISBURG - The sight was sad enough: When the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area seized 29 Morgan horses found languishing this month in a manure-choked barnyard near Hershey, many of the animals were down to skin and bones. Then came the bill: The estimate for the horses' basic veterinary care was $30,000 - not including food, hoof, and dental care, utilities, rent, or the cost of extra help. "You cannot predict the level of animal cruelty in your budget," said the society's executive director, Amy Kaunas.

A Montgomery County man has been charged with animal cruelty after he allegedly kicked and stomped on a neighbor's cat. Mieczyslaw Zwolinski, 60, of Lansdale, received a summons on the misdemeanor charge. According to police, neighbors said Zwolinski yelled and kicked the cat, which was in his yard, off the ground. They said he stomped on the animal at least six times as it tried to flee. The incident occurred Dec. 4, according to police. - Mari A. Schaefer

A Montgomery County man has been charged with animal cruelty after he allegedly kicked and stomped on a neighbor's cat. Mieczyslaw Zwolinski, 60, of Lansdale, received a summons from police for the misdemeanor charge. According to police, neighbors said Zwolinski yelled expletives and kicked the cat, which was in his yard, off the ground. They said he stomped on the animal at least six times as it tried to flee. The incident occurred Dec. 4, according to police. The cat, which belonged to a neighbor, was treated by a veterinarian for rib pain and a cut mouth, police said.

Moderate quake rattles Ky. area A magnitude-4.3 earthquake struck about eight miles west of Whitesburg, Ky., just after noon Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter of the relatively light earthquake, which struck at a depth of 0.7 miles, was in Blackey, Ky. The town, which is in the Appalachian Mountains, is near the border with Virginia and about 110 miles southwest of Charleston, W. Va. Tremors were felt as far north as Columbus, Ohio, and as far south as Atlanta, said Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the agency.