Police: More than 90 dogs living in ‘filthy and inhumane conditions’ at Hopewell farm
Jon Andreassi
Humane Officer Cathy Cunningham describes the conditions the dogs were living under at a press conference Thursday.
Otto is one of the German shorthaired pointers rescued from the Hopewell Township farm. Otto has no fur and cannot be in the sun, and also has injured feet.
A humane officer said the scene at a Hopewell Township farm where 92 dogs were living in inhumane conditions was among the worst she has ever seen.
Three South Park women were charged in connection with mistreatment of the animals on Wednesday after an investigation that took more than a year to complete.
Charlotte Leslie Binakonsky, 64, Lucy Ann Binakonsky, 30, and Emily David Binakonsky, 26, all of 1152 Cochrans Mill Road, South Park Township, were charged with five counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony. They also face additional misdemeanor charges of cruelty to animals and neglect of animals.
Social media posts alerted police to the Binakonsky/Seddon farm last summer at 41-43 Hamilton Acres Lane in Hopewell Township. The property is registered to Charlotte Binakonsky and her brother.
Police said nearby residents had found stray German shorthaired pointers.
State troopers went to the farm the evening of Aug. 21, 2018, and saw Lucy and Emily Binakonsky removing dogs from one of the homes on the property.
District Attorney Gene Vittone called a press conference Thursday to discuss the case. There, humane Officer Cathy Cunningham described a horrific scene where dogs were emaciated and fighting over food.
“I’ve been doing this 13 years, and it ranks up in my top five,” Cunningham said. “It was deplorable – uninhabitable by man or beast.”
Charlotte Binakonsky claimed ownership of the dogs.
There were 92 dogs and one cat at the farm. Most of the dogs were German shorthaired pointers, but one was a labrador mix.
Vittone said the dogs were mostly contained within two buildings on the property. After police executed the search warrant, the animals were taken to the Washington County Fairgrounds, where an emergency veterinary clinic was set up and veterinarians and veterinary technicians assessed them and provided care.
Two of the dogs subsequently died as a result of the conditions under which they were living at the farm, according to Vittone. Three suffered such serious damage to their vision that they now require the use of goggles to go outside.
Several rescue organizations took in the dogs, and most of them have been taken into private homes, Vittone said. Those organizations include the Washington Area Humane Society, Pet Search, The Anna Shelter, Action for Animals, All But Furgotten, Pet Friends and Gray Paws Sanctuary.
Kelly Proudfit, executive director of the humane society, said the organization took in 11 of the dogs, including the lab mix. Most of the dogs have found homes, and the lab was placed in a “forever foster home.”
“It has serious issues with its hips and legs. That was the only one that wasn’t a German shorthaired pointer,” Proudfit said.
The investigation that led to the charges took more than a year, and is still ongoing, according to Vittone.
“When you’re dealing with the number of dogs that were involved … we had 93 investigations,” Vittone said. “It took time to get a lot of the veterinary records together so that we could establish a basis for charging, and then there was a lot of interviewing that needed to be done by the Pennsylvania State Police.”
The criminal complaint makes reference to two nonprofit organizations operated by Lucy Binakonsky, Healthy Companions and Forever Rescue, based in Rockville, Md. Online records indicate Forever Rescue was granted tax-exempt status in Maryland in 2017. Vittone declined to comment on the organizations’ relevance to the investigation.
Vittone said the women face up to 7 years in jail for each felony charge, and/or a $15,000 fine. The additional charges each carry up to a year of jail time and a $2,000 fine.
Online court records list Washington attorney C. J. Blackwell as representing the Binakonsky family.
All three were arraigned before District Judge Ethan Ward and released on an unsecured $50,000 bond.
They are scheduled to appear before Ward for a preliminary hearing at 10:45 a.m. Nov. 18.