{"id":261346,"date":"2026-08-08T00:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/261346\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:50:07","slug":"hoarding-case-in-luzerne-lackawanna-counties-leaves-shelters-struggling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/261346\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoarding case in Luzerne, Lackawanna counties leaves shelters struggling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newswatch 16’s Valeria Qui\u00f1ones spoke with local shelters that are running out of space as more neglected dogs wait to be rescued.<\/p>\n

LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. \u2014 Pass by a now-condemned home on South Main Street in Pittston, and you’ll still hear dogs barking from inside. Officials say this is one of two homes connected to a hoarding case spanning Luzerne<\/a> and Lackawanna<\/a> counties. The second home, in Scranton, has also been condemned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Animal shelters in both counties are now struggling to keep up.\u00a0<\/p>\n


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On Monday, the Luzerne County SPCA contacted Blue Chip Farm Animal Refuge in Luzerne County, which took in 19 dogs, while Griffin Pond Animal Shelter in Lackawanna County took in six.<\/p>\n

“You typically don’t get a hoarding situation from one home in one county moved to another county. At least I’ve not seen it, you know?” said Sherry Crolly, development director at Griffin Pond Animal Shelter.<\/p>\n

Crolly said the dogs were infested with fleas and frightened. She suspects they’ve never had proper human interaction. Both shelters are already at capacity, forcing six dogs to remain at the Pittston property and another eight at the Scranton home until more kennel space opens up.<\/p>\n

“They’re allowing the owner to go back into the Pittston home between a certain hour or time to feed and water,” Crolly said.<\/p>\n

Former neighbor Carol Healey of Pittston said she’s known about the situation for nearly a year and reported it to local animal control. She learned about the situation through her grandson, who had a friend living in the home. “Horrible. He came home, and many times he would have bites all over him from fleas,” Healey said. Eventually, Healey took in a dog and cat herself after her grandson’s friend handed them over.<\/p>\n

Griffin Pond also took in 20 cats this week from a separate hoarding case, adding even more pressure to its limited space and resources.<\/p>\n

“There’s a nationwide problem going on right now, you know? The way to eliminate this problem is to spay and neuter your animals. If you’re finding yourself in a financial situation, reach out to us. We can point you in the right direction for resources,” Crolly said.<\/p>\n

Shelter officials say they don’t yet know whether the owner of the dogs will face charges. For now, the focus is caring for the rescued animals and making room for the dogs still waiting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those interested in donating to or adopting from the shelters can find more information on the Lackawanna County Griffin Pond Animal Shelter website by\u00a0clicking here,<\/a> or on the Luzerne County Blue Chip Farm Animal Refuge website by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newswatch 16’s Valeria Qui\u00f1ones spoke with local shelters that are running out of space as more neglected dogs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-261346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}