Neglected dogs, dead rabbit found in abandoned home

PITTSTOWN -- Pacing a floor strewn with rotting garbage, tattered clothing and her own waste, a young pit bull searched in vain for food and water. In the squalid living room, she passed the cage in which a rabbit had succumbed to probable dehydration. Its stiff body was tucked inside a play tube.

Downstairs in the darkened basement, another dog clawed furiously at the wall, her overgrown nails tearing a long gash into the sheetrock at the top of the soiled stairs. Her mounting pile of feces turned white with age. Spider webs covered the fixtures nearby.

Days crawled by -- no one is quite sure how many -- until a neighbor noticed the forlorn pit bull pawing at the window more than a week ago. Several phone calls later, he said, a state police dispatcher promised that someone would eventually get over to the house. He felt reassured.

But when his friend Chris Dobert stopped by for a visit on Tuesday night, they all discovered the awful truth: no one had come. When the put bill reappeared in the window, they realized the animals were still trapped.

Suddenly, Log Woods Road lit-up. Neighbors marshaled. Authorities were called. This time, a state trooper responded.

Dobert, it turns out, had grown-up in the one-story yellow ranch years before it became a pet house of horrors. The house is in his name, and his step-brother had been living there with his wife, rabbit and two dogs. The human occupants had vanished, but Dobert still had access.

With neighbors and the trooper in tow, Dobert entered the foul-smelling home.

Stumbling over piles of trash that started at the front door, the small party encountered the pit bull. The dog was too weak to bark, but it devoured the first offering of food and furiously lapped up with water.

Then, hearing noise beneath the floor, Dobert approached the basement door. In the dim filtered light, he saw the second dog trying to pull herself up the stairs. With help, she reached the top and dove headlong into the waiting meal of chow and water.

In the ensuing hours, animal rescue specialists and the state Department of Environmental Conservation arrived. The dogs were transported to the Creekside Kennel in Poestenkill and placed under the care of owner Dawn Niehbur.

They seem healthy considering the circumstances, she said, and will be placed up for adoption pending the outcome of the case. (For more information on animals that are currently available for adoption, visit: www.animalovers.org.)

State police were still searching for Dobert's step-brother and wife, Dobert said. They could be charged with abandonment: a misdemeanor.

Finally, Dobert called into question the Pittstown dog control officer whom he claims declined to help on Tuesday night and blocked another town's dog warden from intervening.

Pittstown Supervisor John Luskin refused to comment or provide CBS 6 with the dog control officer's address or telephone number. CBS 6 has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for that information and will follow-up.