Schuylkill County Woman Charged with Animal Cruelty for Allegedly Abandoning Sick Dog

A Schuylkill County woman is being charged with animal cruelty and other related offenses after she allegedly abandoned a sick dog, which later had to be euthanized.

State Police in Schuylkill Haven say they were contacted by their Animal Cruelty officer in late-September after he’d received an email from Ruth Steinert SPCA, Pine Grove Township, regarding a dog reportedly found in an alleyway in Tower City earlier that month.

That email reportedly contained two videos and multiple photos of a dog with maggots around its anus and groin.

Troopers from the Schuylkill Haven barracks traveled to Tower City to speak with the witnesses who found the dog.

One witness told police that on Sept. 10, they were their way to pick up their child at a friend’s house when the dog was found in an alley in the 1100 block of E. Grand Ave. in Tower City.

The dog was given water and immediately drank the entire bowl.

A Facebook post was made in an attempt to locate the dog’s owner. But seeing the dog’s condition, the witness took it to the SPCA for further help.

Soon after taking the dog to the shelter, the witness says they received a phone call from a Lebanon County-based phone number. The caller indicated that it was her dog on the Facebook post.

The witness told the caller that the dog was currently at Ruth Steinert SPCA. When the witness asked the caller for her name, it was not provided. However, the caller did reportedly say that the dog was 15 years old, it had cancer, and suffered seizures. The caller reportedly denied the dog had maggots. Eventually, the caller became agitated and ended the call abruptly.

Using a reverse phone search on Cash App, the witness told police they were able to identify the caller as Amanda Yordy, 36, of Tower City. Yordy, the witness told police, their neighbor.

On Oct. 1, police say they reviewed a report completed by veterinarian Dr. Elizabeth Devorak, which reportedly showed the dog was 10% dehydrated, was blind, had suffered bone loss, was covered in maggots and fecal matter on its hind end, and a severely unkempt coat, and had no muscle mass in its hind quarters. The drug fell over when it was allowed to stand on its own.

Devorak, in her report, noted that medical care was not going to improve the dog’s quality of life and a decision was made to euthanize it, which occurred on Sept. 10.

Also on Oct. 1, police say they spoke with Devorak in person at The Bernville Veterinary Pet Spa & Resort for more information on the dog’s condition. Devorak added to her report that the dog was severely malnourished, police say, and that its condition could not have happened overnight and that the dog had been neglected.

Later on Oct. 1, police say they spoke with Becky Worth, shelter manager at Ruth Steinert SPCA, who added that the dog was skinny and had a foul odor emanating from its rear end when it arrived at the shelter.

Worth reportedly told police that when she attempted to clean the dog, maggots were crawling around and out of the dog’s anus. That’s when Worth decided to take the dog to Devorak.

Police say they searched Yordy’s Facebook profile and found photos of a dog that looked similar to the one abandoned.

Yordy was interviewed by police on Oct. 10 at her home. She reportedly told police she owned the dog for 10 years and the entire time, it had suffered seizures. That condition got worse in May, she said, and that’s when she attempted to have it euthanized but could not afford the cost of the service.

Yordy reportedly told police she’d given the dog away but it was returned two days later because the person who took him could not handle its health issues. That’s when Yordy said she put the dog in her basement with food and water.

Eventually, Yordy told police she’d noticed that her dog wasn’t eating and there was a mass on its rear end. She told police she believed her dog had suffered a prolapsed anus and that it had become matted shut from fecal matter.

In an attempt to explain how her dog made it from her home to an alleyway in Tower City, Yordy allegedly said that her child had woken up from a nap and when she went to check on them, the dog must have escaped her house. Because she had to go to work, Yordy reportedly told police that she was able to get her child back to sleep and she took a nap.

When she realized the dog had escaped, she began looking for him but eventually found the Facebook post. She said to police that when she learned that her dog was at the SPCA, she believed it was the best place for him.

A preliminary arraignment in this case has been scheduled for Oct. 23. That’s when Yordy will officially be charged with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals, three misdemeanor counts of neglect of animals, and one misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals.

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