STRUTHERS Owner finds missing pet among dogs

A search for a gun was unsuccessful at the house full of neglected dogs.
By MARALINE KUBIK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS -- One of eight dogs found without adequate food or water and locked inside a house in the 300 block of Sexton Street was returned to its rightful owner Thursday morning.
The owner was one of two people to call police contending that they believed their dogs, which have been missing for weeks, were inside the house after they watched TV news broadcasts that showed some of the animals and the deplorable living conditions.
The dog was returned after the owner identified it while Dave Nelson, humane agent for Mahoning County, was removing the animals from the house, police say.
None of the remaining dogs belonged to the second person who thought she'd seen her dog on the broadcast.
Handgun search
The day before the dogs were removed, police searched the home for a loaded handgun after the 15-year-old daughter of the woman who rents the house told police that the gun was there and that she didn't know what to do with it.
The girl searched the bedroom where she said the gun had been but was unable to locate it. The police search also was unsuccessful, a police report states.
Police said they believe the girl's mother, Kathleen E. Skaleris, 48, of 349 Sexton St., may have taken the gun. A warrant for her arrest was issued Wednesday after police charged her with six counts of animal cruelty.
The 15-year-old, who lives at the house with her mother and 12-year-old sister, also told police that raccoons had taken up residence in the attic and that it was unsafe to enter it.
kubik@vindy.com