Two people have been charged with endangering the welfare of a child and animal cruelty. Rebecca Halbach, 35, and Brandon Leconey, 32, have been arrested. They face second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree animal cruelty charges.
According to investigators and police in Evesham, New Jersey, discovered move than a dozen malnourished dogs, cats and rabbits and 30 dead dogs found inside and outside of the home on Monday. Officers from the Evesham Police Department entered the Main Street home and found it to be in deplorable conditions.
Nine of the dogs were taken to a local animal hospital suffering from poor health conditions; one dog had to be euthanized because of his condition. The nine-year-old child living in the home was moved to the care of the New Jersey Division of Child Protection & Permanency. It remains unclear the relationship of the child to the two suspects.
It had been Janice Thompson, the owner of the Tender Mercies Pet Organization in North Carolina, who had previously sent three dogs to Halbach as a rescue transfer. Thompson, however became suspicious after constantly asking Halbach for updates on the dogs named Brandy, Roxy and Shadow; Halbach refused to send updated pictures of the puppies and finally stated the dogs had been adopted.
When Thompson received pictures of one of the dogs, she noted the dog did not look healthy and asked for a full-body photograph which she never received. Subsequent reports and photos did not correspond with the dogs sent to Halbach. It was then that Thompson asked a member of her staff to go to the New Jersey home and pick up the apparently unhealthy dog.
That one of the dogs that was given in their care had died and that they were trying to pass off another dog as the dog that she was looking for. She knew that wasn’t the dog. So that prompted us to investigate.
Evesham Police Chief Walt Miller
It was at that time that Halbach admitted the dog in question had died; the staff member who had made the trip to the New Jersey home was horrified at what she observed and contacted the police.
Two of the three surviving dogs Thompson had transferred to New Jersey, were then picked up and treated at a local veterinarian.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police department at 856.983.1116.
If you see something, say something.
Follow the National Pet Rescue for the latest animal related news.
