🔴 Police found two dogs tied to a tree

🔴 Three people are accused of leaving the dogs there for over a week

🔴 One of the dogs died before police found them


EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Three people are charged with animal cruelty for leaving a pair of dogs tied to a tree for over a week, according to authorities.

The Egg Harbor Township police were called to Wilburforce Avenue for a report of two abandoned dogs on Wednesday.

When officers got there, they found the dogs had been left tied to a tree. According to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, one of the dogs was already dead. The other was emaciated from starvation and needed emergency medical care.

The prosecutor's office said that investigators found the dogs had been there for at least a week.

Wooded area along Wilburforce Avenue. (Google Maps)
Wooded area along Wilburforce Avenue. (Google Maps)
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On Wednesday, authorities arrested and charged three people from Egg Harbor Township.

Derek Hardy, 58, Lassale Hardy, 56, and Shak Balayet, 51, each face two counts of third-degree animal cruelty. They are also charged with disorderly persons offenses for animal cruelty.

"The Prosecutor’s Office would like to remind the public that any pets that can no longer
be properly cared for, or are no longer wanted, can be surrendered to the Atlantic
County Animal Shelter in Pleasantville or the Humane Society in Atlantic City," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Rick Rickman is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at richard.rickman@townsquaremedia.com

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