Two Seneca Falls residents are facing multiple animal cruelty-related charges after police say they abandoned three pets inside a condemned home.
The Seneca Falls Police Department announced that officers arrested 41-year-old Jessica Dyson and 48-year-old John Walters Jr., both of Seneca Falls, on Monday on outstanding arrest warrants issued by Seneca Falls Town Court.
According to police, the arrests followed an investigation that began earlier this month after authorities received a report that the pair had allegedly left two house cats and a dog inside a condemned residence before leaving the area.
Police said a concerned family member became suspicious the animals had been abandoned and went to the home, where the pets were found inside. The animals were safely removed from the residence and provided with proper care.
Dyson and Walters were each charged with three counts of failure to provide proper food and sustenance to an impounded animal, overdriving, torturing and injuring animals (animal cruelty), and abandonment of animals. All of the charges are misdemeanors.
Both were transported to the Seneca County Centralized Arraignment Process (CAP) Court following their arrests. They are scheduled to appear in Seneca Falls Town Court at a later date to answer the charges.
As with all criminal cases, the charges are accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
