BOARDMAN Debris and, dead dogs in house

The township will pursue demolition if the house is condemned.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Two dead dogs lay amid plastic bottles, empty cans, food wrappers and other debris inside 388 Melrose Ave.
On Wednesday, officials from the Mahoning County District Board of Health and the township zoning department ventured inside the home, vacated by its owner, Laura Entrikin, several weeks ago, neighbors said.
Police entered the house Tuesday afternoon after receiving a call from one of the neighbors. They detected a foul odor emanating from a slightly open window and saw one of the dogs, a white terrier mix, dead on the floor near the back door.
The other dog, a German shepherd, was in the living room and part of its leg looked like it had been chewed off.
Cats seen
Police notified Animal Charity about two cats they saw at the home. Animal Charity officials couldn't be reached Wednesday.
One of the cats met zoning and health department officials who were conducting their inspection Wednesday.
The white, long-haired feline stood meowing on the back porch, which was cluttered with tools, a gas grill and empty pans and flower pots, until the visitors left.
The cat ducked its head into a pan on the porch, licking the ice inside trying to get a drink.
Left behind
Health and zoning representatives stepped over and around the trash and debris that cluttered the floor inside. A grandfather clock, exercise machine and a wet-and-dry vacuum are among the items left behind.
John T. Hallas, a registered sanitarian with the health department's environmental health division, said the house would be posted as uninhabitable within five days. A condemnation order would have to come from the health board.
The owner, whose whereabouts are unknown, may appeal.
If the house is condemned, Darren Crivelli, township zoning inspector, said he plans to recommend to trustees that it be demolished.
A garden hose snaked from the back yard into the house through a dryer vent, likely to provide water.
A zoning department official who had been at the house earlier this month reported both dogs were alive then.
Mail overflowing
Mail overflowed from the mailbox. A letter carrier told police that on Feb. 11 the dogs, who usually barked "like crazy" when he was there, weren't barking at him with as much energy as they used to.
Neighbors who gathered outside the house Wednesday declined to be identified but said they saw the dogs clawing at the windows in recent weeks.