UPDATED: 2 Arrests in Lewes Animal Neglect Case; 14 Additional Dogs Rescued
UPDATED – 08/28/23 – Two people have been arrested in connection with an animal cruelty case in Lewes. Delaware State Police were tipped that 32 year old Dillon Hensey and 32 year old Chelsie Puckett were spotted in a parking lot on Coastal Highway in Rehoboth Beach. Police found them parked in their SUV. Delaware Animal Services (DAS) also responded and found 14 more dogs living in the SUV, which was full of trash, feces and debris. The dogs were seized and taken to Brandywine Valley SPCA (BVSPCA) for care. Hensey was arrested for the outstanding animal cruelty charges. Puckett was arrested on unrelated charges.
Hensey is charged with 29 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and has been released on a $14,500 unsecured bond. He was wanted for abandoning 34 small breed dogs in deplorable conditions at a Lewes home in early August and failed to turn himself in to DAS enforcement officers on multiple occasions.
Puckett is charged with 14 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and has been released on a $7000 unsecured bond.
DOG UPDATE: The 34 dogs that were seized on Aug. 7 were turned over to BVSPCA’s care. Thirty of the 34 dogs have been adopted and are now in loving homes, and four are in foster care. BVSPCA hopes to make some of the 14 dogs seized last week available for adoption as soon as Wednesday.
The Office of Animal Welfare thanks the public for their tips as well as Delaware State Police for their cooperation with locating the suspects in this case.
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Criminal charges are pending after 35 small dogs living in deplorable conditions were rescued from a home in Lewes on Tuesday. The Office of Animal Welfare had received a call from concerned neighbors. Officers arrived and found the dogs running loose on the property, jumping from an open window, and living in filth with no electricity or running water. Reports from neighbors indicate that no one had been at the home for several days. Delaware Animal Services is investigating. The dogs, which included 32 small-breed puppies & dogs, and three nursing puppies are now in the care of the Brandywine Valley SPCA.
