Linton woman accused of animal cruelty for abandoning three dogs

A Linton woman is accused of animal cruelty for allegedly abandoning three small dogs in a house in Linton when she moved out last October. They were all emaciated and one of the dogs was unable to stand when an LPD officer investigated. The dogs are recovering at the Greene County Humane Society and the woman is facing criminal charges.

Heather Grogg, 37, Linton, is being summoned to appear in court to face three misdemeanor counts as a result of an investigation by Officer Orry Phipps of the Linton Police Department.

On Tuesday, March 2, the Linton Police Department received a complaint about animals the caller said were abandoned. Officer Phipps was dispatched to a residence on East Roosevelt Street in Linton where he talked to a couple who said they were the property managers for the residence.

The property managers explained there were dogs abandoned in the residence and Heather Grogg was renting the residence last year. They said they’ve been trying to contact Grogg since last October with no luck. They said they had been to the residence multiple times to serve papers to Grogg, and had left messages on the door but had not heard anything.

On that Tuesday, the property managers told Officer Phipps they assumed Grogg had abandoned the residence and they went there to start cleaning up. But when they went into the residence, they found two small dogs that looked like they’d been there for a while without being cared for. They said the dogs were super skinny and looked like they had not eaten for a long time and they’d been trying to eat holes in canned foods. They also said the house was full of trash with dog feces throughout.

Officer Phipps said Grogg then showed up at the residence and said she hadn’t lived there since last October but was leaving dogs there. She said no utilities have been on since last October and she now lives with her boyfriend and is not allowed to have dogs there. When Officer Phipps asked if the dogs had been taken care of, Grogg allegedly said she did stop and feed them at times. She also said she was going through a hard time and could not care for them properly. When asked why she didn’t seek help for the dogs, she allegedly said she did not know where to go or what to do with the dogs.

Officer Phipps reported that when he went inside, he found floors covered in dog feces, empty food packages, clothing and trash. In the kitchen, he found multiple steel food cans on the floor with teeth holes in the cans. He also found multiple types of food packages and boxes that appeared to have been ripped open by the dogs.

Then in a bedroom at the back of the residence, he found a third dog, a black and white dog, lying on the floor. It tried to stand up but was so weak it could not stand on its own. Grogg said she didn’t know the third dog was there and thought maybe her daughter might have left it there. One of the property managers picked the third dog up and held it.

The three dogs were taken to the Greene County Humane Society (GCHS) to be evaluated by a vet and to be cared for. When Officer Phipps talked to Dr. Alissa Hayes, the veterinarian who was caring for the dogs after they arrived at GCHS, she said two dogs were black and white Boston Terriers and the third dog was a Wire-Haired Terrier mix.

According to Officer Phipps, Dr. Hayes said all three dogs had a body condition score of 1/9 with a 5/9 being ideal. She said the Wire-Haired Terrier had a significant amount of blood in its urine and had multiple masses along the lumbar area. It also had a mass in its abdomen which could indicate severe constipation. Some of the masses were ulcerated.

On March 8, Officer Phipps went back to GCHS to check on the three dogs. He talked to several people who had been caring for the dogs and they told him the dogs had livened up since they were brought in. One of them told Officer Phipps that the third dog, the Wire-Haired Terrier, had a package of tartar sauce in one of its stools and they believed that had been blocking the dog from being able to pass stools and that it caused the mass in the dog’s abdomen.

Yesterday, Monday, March 21, a criminal case was filed against Grogg in Greene Superior Court. She is facing three counts of cruelty to an animal. All are Class A misdemeanors.

Earlier today, a summons was sent to Grogg via U.S. Mail with signature confirmation ordering her to appear at an initial hearing in early May.