If it seems like there are more and more disgusting cases of animal abuse popping up almost daily in the Mahoning Valley, that’s because there are. It’s become an epidemic.

Last week, authorities responded to a property in Coitsville Township. Jennifer Falvey, Animal Charity of Ohio board president and interim executive director, said the agency responded on June 25 to an animal welfare concern at 502 Coitsville-Hubbard Road.

According to a story in the June 26 edition of The Vindicator, six dogs were removed from the dilapidated house, which was red-tagged as unfit for human habitation.

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, who 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.

But wait, there’s more. Sadly, there always seems to be more.

About 7 p.m., a good samaritan noticed three dogs locked in a vehicle outside Walmart in the Liberty Plaza on Belmont Avenue in Liberty Township and called police, telling dispatchers that the animals would die without assistance.

Dispatchers contacted the National Weather Service and noted that the temperature was 84 degrees, with a heat index of 88 degrees and a closed vehicle temperature of approximately 105 degrees, according to a story in the Wednesday edition of The Vindicator.

The animals appeared to be in distress and were reportedly trying to drink from open alcoholic beverages in the vehicle. The good samaritan was able to remove the dogs.

Officers eventually located Amy Mikulich, 27, and Desean Johnson, 30, in the store, along with four children. Mikulich and Johsnon pleaded not guilty to charges of cruelty to companion animals in Girard Municipal Court on Tuesday.

According to a police report, Mikulich told officers two of the dogs belonged to her and the third one belonged to Johnson, adding that she intended to stay with the dogs, but later decided to accompany him into the store.

Mikulich reportedly admitted that doing so was a poor decision — no kidding! — given the weather conditions and was told of the National Weather Service’s note that the car’s temperature could have been as high as 105 degrees.

Two other officers spoke with Johnson, who told them that the incident wasn’t a big deal and asked several times if it was illegal, the report states.

These incidents are a big deal and we’re seeing more every day.

On Wednesday in Warren, the Healthy Hearts and Paws Project’s Humane Division was among several entities that responded to a call about a dog chained and in distress at a residence on Central Parkway SE in Warren. Animal Control for the city of Warren and the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office also responded.

The report indicated the dog was pacing frantically and the heat index was 98 degrees. When authorities arrived, the dog was reportedly lying on its side and unresponsive, according to a Facebook post by Jason Cooke of Healthy Hearts and Paws. Cooke’s post included a photo of the dog, whose internal temperature was recorded at 109 degrees. The animal had no access to shelter, shade or water and was declared dead at the scene, according to Cooke.

His post indicated that criminal charges are expected, pending the completion of an investigation.

Stories like those above should make all of us sick. It’s heartbreaking that we can’t save these animals from those who are too careless and ignorant to take care of them, but there is something we can do.

Our courts must start treating these animal abusers like the criminals they are. To this point, that really hasn’t happened.

In May, Omar Provitt, 53, of Warren, pleaded guilty to a first-degree misdemeanor count of cruelty to companion animals before Warren Municipal Court Judge Patricia Knepp.

Charges against Provitt were brought by Cooke after a severely underweight and dehydrated dog was rescued from a property on Jackson Street SW, according to a Tribune Chronicle story.

Cooke said the dog refused to eat or drink even while under the care of his agency and at the veterinarian’s office and the dog died later that day during surgery from what Cooke said was complications of “chronic starvation.”

Ridiculously, Provitt was sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 179 days suspended and credit for one day served.

Cooke, Falvey and their organizations can’t do it all. Until and unless we demand that our lawmakers and courts take these horrible crimes more seriously, they will continue to happen.