Animal Charity seizes 6 dogs from Coitsville home
Dogs removed from dilapidated structure two years ago
COITSVILLE — Humane agents and other authorities investigated an animal welfare complaint Thursday at a Coitsville property.
Jennifer Falvey, Animal Charity of Ohio board president and interim executive director, said her agency responded to an animal welfare concern at 502 Coitsville-Hubbard Road Thursday morning.
Six dogs were removed from the dilapidated house. The house was red-tagged, meaning it is not fit for human habitation. However, the owner is not the person believed to be keeping dogs at the house.
Retired Mahoning County humane agent Dave Nelson said Animal Charity and other authorities were there two years ago to address reports of some pit bulls being kept on the property by Stanley Jones. Another source, who is familiar with the case, told The Vindicator that authorities are again focused on Jones.
Jones pleaded guilty to animal abuse in Niles Municipal Court in 2023 after an emaciated German shepherd was found abandoned in a garage on his property. Neighbors said the animal had been in the garage barking for at least four days. When police heard the dog whimpering and opened the door, the dog ran out and they found no food or water in the garage.
Neighbors told Niles police they had seen the female occupant of the Hyde Avenue home move out days before. Police contacted the woman, who is Jones’s cousin, and she told them she had left the dog in Jones’s care, and that the dog had not been locked in the garage when she left.
Jones pleaded guilty, served 10 days in jail, paid a fine and was ordered not to keep any companion animals.
A source familiar with the case told The Vindicator that the homeowner was at the house with city of Youngstown code enforcement agents when Animal Charity humane agents arrived. It is unclear if the owner knew Jones was keeping animals at the property before Thursday’s investigation.
Animal Charity, as the county’s only humane society with statutory law enforcement and investigative authority under Ohio Revised Code, often files felony-level cases through the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office. However, it also regularly uses the Medina County-based Holland & Muirden law firm to prosecute many of its cases in Mahoning County courts.