2 charged in animal abuse, neglect case

By the MVI

Two women are accused of leaving a small dog alone in an unfurnished, deplorable and unheated Rostraver Township apartment with no food or water for at least two weeks, leading to the dog being euthanized.

When Rostraver Township police were called to the Rostraver Apartments on Jan. 12 by the apartment manager and maintenance worker for complaints about a dog continuously barking for at least a week, the officer found the residence in deplorable conditions covered in animal feces, with the windows open and furnace off, according to the criminal complaint. The maintenance worker told police he was cleaning the apartment when he noticed a pile of clothing and the dog, a Shih Tzu, in a corner of a closet, lifeless and barely breathing. The apartment temperature was 45 degrees, according to the criminal complaint.

The officer took the dog to Animal Clinic, but due to its poor prognosis, the dog was humanely euthanized. The veterinarian conducted a necropsy on the dog, which revealed it was suffering from dehydration, malnutrition and hypothermia and had been suffering from starvation for at least two to three weeks.

Police called the apartment tenant, Skylar Majors Frost, who said she had been in the hospital for 10 days. Majors-Frost told police Kisha Bradley was supposed to be taking care of the dog.

Majors-Frost, 22, and Bradley, 44, of McMahon Avenue, Monessen, were each charged Wednesday with felony aggravated cruelty to animals, torture and aggravated cruelty to animals – causing serious bodily injury or death, and several counts of cruelty and neglect of animals.

The charges were filed Wednesday at the office of Magisterial District Judge Wayne Vlasic in Monessen.