Neighbors rescue puppies tied shut in plastic bags and dumped in trash, owner facing charges

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Two neighbors made a disturbing discovery on their street in Canton Township in Washington County Sunday.

Jacqueline Kosek said her neighbor was walking her dog down Beacon Avenue early in the morning when she heard cries coming from a garbage can in front of a home.

She ran to get Kosek who riffled through the trash and found three Pit bull-mix puppies buried in a trash can in front of a home down the street.

“I took all the garbage off the top and I come across three bags tied shut, and I opened them up and there were three live puppies,” Kosek said.

State Police Tpr. Rocco Gagliardi said the women heard the puppies crying outside in the cold and immediately jumped in saving three of them.

“When they actually went to the trash can, they could hear it get louder and louder and louder. They kept hearing what was these dogs crying in the trash can,” he said.

Gagliardi said the puppies had severe injuries to their legs. Sadly, police said one puppy was found dead, but Kosek believes there may have been more.

“It was awful,” Kosek said. “That’s the worst thing I’ve ever...and all I could think was why someone would do such a horrible...you could’ve taken them somewhere and turned them in.”

Kosek told Channel 11, that when she kept digging in the garbage can, she found at least three other puppies dead at the very bottom. They were also tied up in plastic grocery bags.

“Here’s the sad part, there were six puppies. Five puppies had a paw chewed off,” she said.

Kosek and her neighbor called 911 and kept the puppies alive until troopers got to the home to help.

“I stared getting towels and we started rubbing the three trying to get them warm,” Kosek said.

The neighbors said they also gave the puppies milk through a syringe, stopped their bleeding and put them on a heated blanket.

“Really good shout out to those neighbors who were able to have good situational awareness and see something was wrong and aid those dogs because if they really didn’t get there and give that stat call, we’re looking at a totally different scenario,” Gagliardi said.

Police are investigating if the puppies were already dead before they were put out with the trash.

The puppies’ owner, Franklin Donley, is at the Washington County Jail and is facing several felony charges of aggravated animal cruelty. Gagliardi said more people could be charged.

The three puppies that survived will now have a fighting chance. They’re at the vet waiting to undergo surgery on their legs on Monday.

“I want him to go to jail and I don’t want him to ever have another animal,” Kosek said of Donley. “That was horrifying.”

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