Pa. man charged with 25 counts of animal abuse for 'serial' actions

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PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania man is facing 25 counts of animal abuse after authorities say he behaved as a ‘serial animal abuser'.

On June 4, he Pennsylvania SPCA’s Humane Law Enforcement team returned to the property of Daniel Esh, who they call, a serial animal abuser.

Due to previous animal cruelty charges brought against him, Esh was prohibited from owning animals and the PSPCA was granted unannounced inspection rights of the property.

As a result of the most recent inspection, the PSPCA removed a total of 13 dogs.

When officers returned to the property on June 4, they found numerous dogs, several of which were found to have matting of their fur and other medical concerns including ear infections, overgrown nails, conjunctivitis, severe dental disease and inflammation of the skin of the paw.

The subsequent removal of the 13 dogs from the property resulted in additional animal cruelty charges against three members of the Esh family.

Daniel Esh is facing 8 summary charges for lack of veterinary care, 2 summary charges for the reckless illtreatment of animals and 3 summary charges for lack of potable water.

Omar Esh is being cited for 7 summary counts of lack of veterinary care, 3 summary counts of lack of potable water and 1 summary count of reckless illtreatment of animals.

Verna Esh is facing 1 summary count of animal cruelty for lack of veterinary care.

The 13 dogs were removed from the property and brought to the PSPCA’s Philadelphia headquarters, where they received medical evaluations. All animals were surrendered to the Pennsylvania SPCA and nearly all have found forever families.

"Unfortunately, a case like this is not out of the ordinary in the work we do," said Nicole Wilson, Director of Humane Law Enforcement & Shelter Operations at the Pennsylvania SPCA. "While offenders of animal cruelty may feel a sense of comfort after sentencing to return to their previous practices, we take inspection rights very seriously."

"While we are saddened to find the Esh family’s continuing disregard for the law and the animals in their care, we are not surprised," said Julie Klim, PSPCA CEO. " The Esh family has a long history of animal abuse, it is our desire to finally, and once and for all, put an end to that."