Two Pennsylvania State Police troopers, the owner of a local animal welfare organization and the man hired to take care of animals on a Summit Township farm spoke on Tuesday about what they called the poor conditions the animals were kept in on the Edinboro Road property.
Kennels full of feces. Feces caked on the animals. No visible food or water. At least two dead puppies, one of which was missing a head.
The group spoke under questioning by Erie County Assistant District Attorney Jessica Reger during the opening day of testimony in the preliminary hearing for Gregory S. Havican, 49, who was accused by the Pennsylvania State Police of neglecting roughly 200 animals including dogs, chickens, goats , ducks, pigs and pigeons that he kept on the property.
The animals were seized by authorities during searches of the property in October and were turned over to the ANNA Shelter in Erie for evaluation and care.
State police charged Havican on Nov. 28 with 163 criminal offenses: 79 third-degree felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals-causing significant bodily injury or death; 19 third-degree misdemeanor counts of neglect of animals-veterinary care; and 65 summary counts of neglect of animals-shelter/protection.
more:163 cruelty counts: Summit man charged after live, dead animals found in ‘inhumane’ state
Testimony at Tuesday’s hearing before Summit Township District Judge Brian McGowan centered on the conditions of the property at 7671 Edinboro Road. The hearing was stopped after a little less than three hours of testimony and will resume on an as-yet-unscheduled date, when prosecutors plan to present testimony from three veterinarians who evaluate each of the seized animals.
State police wrote in the criminal complaint filed against Havican that the seized animals included dogs with muscle loss, fleas, mange and other issues; goats suffering from extreme neglect; a pig that had died of pneumonia; chickens whose deaths were linked to starvation, and ducks with lice and mites.
Defense challenges revealed as property conditions outlined
The investigation that led to the search of the Edinboro Road property and the seizure of the animals was launched in early October after state police received a video that purportedly showed the poor living conditions on the property.
The source of the video, Benjamin Carrier, tested that he began working for Havican on Sept. 19 after learning about the job from a friend and neighbor who had previously worked for Havican. The carrier said his job was to care for the animals, mainly to feed and water them.
Carrier tested that he was trained for a few days on how to feed and water the animals, then worked on his own for three days in September and a few more days in early October. He said Havican gave him a list of what to feed the animals, but he was not directed to do any cleaning of the kennels.
The carrier said under questioning by Reger that he didn’t follow the feeding instructions, because he didn’t think some of the animals were getting enough food. He also said the kennels had not been cleaned, and that he was not directed to clean them, and he became concerned.
Carrier said on Oct. 5, when he arrived at the property, the kennels were still not cleaned. He said he looked in one of the puppy kennels and saw one puppy on the floor with its head gone, and another puppy that appeared to be chewing on it. That’s when Carrier said he decided to shoot the video of the conditions on the property.
The carrier also testified about Havican telling him to dispose of a puppy who died on a burning pile in a wooded area of the property.
The carrier said under questioning by Havican’s lawyer, Charbel Latouf, that friend who had the job before him worked on the property Monday through Saturday, for about three hours each day. He also said that when he was trained for the job, he saw his friend cleaning some of the kennels.
But Carrier again stated that he was never told that kennel-cleaning was part of his job duties, and told Latouf that he spent the entire three hours he worked on the days he was at the farm on feeding and watering the animals.
Two state police troopers who were later tested both said under questioning by Latouf that it was their impression, from speaking with the Carrier, that his job was to clean as part of his duties.
Carrier tested he eventually quit the job when he decided the work wasn’t for him. He said he kept the video he shot on his phone for a few days, then shared it with a friend before it was passed along to the state police.
State police Cpl. Nicholas Stolar tested that he and other troopers went to the Edinboro Road property on Oct. 8 after learning from the video and were given consent by Havican to search it in order to check on the welfare of the animals. He said they checked the area where the dogs and puppies were kept and all were alive, but it appeared to be dirty.
When the troopers asked Havican to show them where the burn pile was, Stolar said they were led down a path where they found nothing. Troopers then found another path that Stolar said led them to a pile with a dead puppy on top and some bones in the area. At that point, Stolar said the District Attorney’s Office was called and a search warrant was secured for the property.
When asked by Reger if Havican had made any statements, Stolar said Havican did advise that he was a breeder and that at times some dogs would die. He also said he hires people to take care of the animals, and he disagreed with Stolar’s statement that Havican was primarily responsible for the conditions on the property.
Latouf asked Stolar under questioning if he was familiar with agricultural rules, specifically those providing an exemption to animal cruelty laws. Stolar said he wasn’t.
Latouf later argued during Tuesday’s hearing that under a section of state law, offenses including animal neglect and animal cruelty were exempt in a normal agricultural operation such as the Havican farm was running.
more:‘Defective horses’ led to prior legal problems for the defendant in the Summit animal cruelty case
Ruth Thompson of the ANNA Shelter tested that eight staff members of her organization went to the Edinboro Road property during the first search on Oct. 8 to rescue animals from the property. She said about 59 dogs were rescued, noting that she saw large amounts of feces in the kennels and a lack of sufficient water, insulation and heating sources.
Thompson also tested that he saw dead chickens, pigeons and ducks.
Trooper Kylene Cotton tested that a second search warrant was served on the Edinboro Road property later in October, mainly to locate documents related to Havican’s business and the sale of animals, “as well as other crimes.” She said she found old veterinary records, a kennel inspection report from June and a binder with instructions on how much to feed the animals.
When asked by Reger to describe the condition of the property during the searches in comparison to what was seen on the Carrier shot video, Cotton said the conditions were similar except the deceased puppies seen in the video were no longer present.
Contact Tim Hahn at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.
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