West Philly man convicted for abandoning Cane Corsos

The owner of two Cane Corsos that were found last month in a West Philadelphia home filled with feces and occupied by squatters was convicted of animal cruelty charges, the PSPCA announced.

Detroy Johnson, 54, of the 2800 block of Judson Street was convicted in absentia Monday on two counts of unsanitary confinement of dogs. He was ordered to pay $1,200, banned for 180 days from owning animals and mustforfeit to the PSPCAhis two Cane Corsos, Ike and Tina, whom he abandoned.

The PSPCAlearned of the dogs’ situation after receiving a tip from the Philadelphia Police Department and sent humane law enforcement officers to a West Philly home on Jan. 22.

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They “found the two dogs living inside a house with large amounts of feces as well as squatters on the premises,” the PSPCA said in a press release. “The dogs were removed from the property as evidence, and were taken to the Pennsylvania SPCA’s headquarters to receive care.”

According to court records, Johnson has a long criminal record, having been sentenced to seven years for theft in 1982, a five to 15 year sentence for murder in 1987, and was sentenced to nine months for a 1995 trespassing incident.

Ike and Tina will be available for adoption at the PSPCA if there is no appeal of the sentence.

“The Pennsylvania SPCA is pleased with the outcome of this case, proving that our protection of animals extends beyond blatant cruelty to include ensuring an animal’s quality of life,”PSPCA CEOJerry Buckley said in a statement.“Through the quick response of our Humane Law Enforcement Officers and Humane Litigation, we were able to resolve this case in a timely manner and look forward to the next step in the process — finding homes for the animals involved.”