Local Man Pleads Guilty To Charges Of Animal Cruelty
MONTGOMERY COUNTY (CBS) -- A Montgomery County man has pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals in connection with the starvation death of a German Shepherd, and it's not the first time he's been accused of neglecting an animal.
In June, county officials say Jeffrey Helverson of Pottsgrove had to carry his a 2-and-a-half year old German shepherd, Luna, into the Pottsgrove Animal Hospital, because at just 38 pounds, she was so thin she couldn't walk. Despite efforts to save her, Luna died a couple days later.
Prosecutor Lauren Marvel said her goal was to keep other animals safe going forward.
"Our goal in this case was protecting animals in the community from him for as long as possible," Marvel said.
Helverson pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and is sentenced to three-years probation and 200 hours of community service, and Marvel says under current law, that's the best they could do.
"There's no way to make it so that he can't own dogs for the rest of his life," she said. "The most that we could do was to get him on probation for as long as possible, which in this case three years to keep him from owning animals for three years."
Helverson pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in 2004 for leaving the death of cocker spaniel locked in a cage with no food or water.
