Mecca couple arraigned on animals cruelty charge

Staff report

CORTLAND

Danielle M. Dean, 25, and Lance S. Martinez, 34, both of 7333 state Route 46 in Mecca Township, were arraigned Friday in Central District Court on one count each of prohibitions concerning companion animals after their neighbor called police regarding two dogs in their yard.

Both pleaded not guilty, and both were released after posting a personal recognizance bond, meaning they didn’t have to pay anything.

The Trumbull County Sheriff’s office said it received a call from a neighbor Tuesday saying he has been periodically feeding and watering the dogs over the past few months at the home where Dean and Martinez live because the couple has refused to do so.

When he went to the house Tuesday, he found one of the dogs dead and the second one was very unhealthy and barking at the dead dog.

The neighbor fed the surviving dog and called 911, saying that Dean has been reported to the Animal Welfare League in the past for animal abuse.

When deputies arrived, they determined that “neither dog had fresh food or water” other than what the neighbor had brought that day.

There was dirt and mold on the food dishes, and the surviving dog’s urine was very dark and his feces “looked like dirt as if that is what he had been eating.”