By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Thomas Ray Pickerill

PIERCETON — A Pierceton man will serve one year on probation after abandoning four dogs in a filthy home and failing to care for them.

Thomas Ray Pickerill, 52, 8280 E. US 30 Lot 99, Pierceton, was sentenced for cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor.

Pickerill pled guilty to the charge and received a one-year suspended sentence on May 1, in Kosciusko Superior Court Two.

On Oct. 27, 2022, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a complaint about dogs being abandoned at a residence. A different deputy had been called to the home for a similar complaint on Oct. 21, 2022.

According to court documents, upon making entry into the home, deputies found four dogs in the home, which was filthy and trashed. There was no sign of available food or water for the dogs.

On Nov. 4, 2022, KCSO received a call from a relative of the homeowner, who was hospitalized on Sept. 17, 2022, and had not returned home since that time.

The relative said the homeowner and Pickerill lived in the home together and that the dogs belonged to them both.