Target: Kevin R. Steele, District Attorney of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Goal: Identify, charge, and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law the individual or individuals allegedly responsible for cramming six dogs into two small cages.
Six dogs were discovered crammed into just two small cages inside a home in Wyncote, in circumstances serious enough to prompt an animal cruelty investigation by Cheltenham Township Police. The discovery — made on April 15 — raises immediate and serious questions about the conditions these animals were forced to endure: confined in cramped spaces with inadequate room to move, rest comfortably, or behave in any way consistent with the needs of a living creature. Pennsylvania law is explicit that animals in human care are entitled to basic standards of welfare, and the cramming of six dogs into two small cages falls far short of any reasonable standard.
Pennsylvania’s animal cruelty statutes, significantly strengthened by Libre’s Law, provide for serious criminal penalties when animals are kept in conditions that cause suffering or risk of serious injury — and confinement of this nature, for an indeterminate period, in inadequate space, carries precisely that risk. The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office must ensure that this investigation leads to charges and that those charges are prosecuted to the fullest extent available under Pennsylvania law.
Six dogs had no ability to escape the cages they were forced to share, no means of signaling distress to the outside world, and no voice in the legal proceedings that will now determine whether justice is served for them. Sign this petition to demand full accountability for those allegedly responsible.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear DA Steele,
We are writing to urge your office to ensure that the animal cruelty investigation initiated by Cheltenham Township Police following the discovery of six dogs crammed into two small cages in a Wyncote home results in charges and vigorous prosecution. The conditions found in this case — six animals confined in two small cages — represent a serious potential violation of Pennsylvania’s animal welfare standards, which require that dogs be provided with adequate space, sanitary conditions, and protection from conditions that cause suffering or risk of injury.
Pennsylvania’s animal cruelty statutes, including the provisions of Libre’s Law, provide meaningful felony-level penalties when neglect or cruel confinement causes serious bodily injury or creates a serious risk thereof. The confinement of six dogs in two small cages, for an unknown duration and in unknown conditions, demands a thorough investigation and, where the evidence supports it, criminal charges that reflect the seriousness of what these animals endured.
We respectfully but firmly demand that your office support and monitor this investigation closely, ensure that charges are filed where the evidence supports them, and pursue the maximum available penalties upon prosecution. These six dogs had no way to call for help or escape their alleged confinement — it is now the responsibility of your office and the justice system to speak for them and ensure this case is treated with the gravity it demands.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Pixabay
