By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 47-year-old Centralia man was summonsed to Lewis County Superior Court yesterday, charged with animal cruelty in a case that was discovered by a neighbor this summer.
A Centralia animal control officer was dispatched to a home on South Buckner Street, where a woman said her neighbor had not been around for days, his dogs had been barking for hours and when she checked, she found they were without food or water, according to court papers.
Four exotic birds in cages at the front window inside the home had only empty water dishes and empty shells in their food dishes. One, an African Gray parrot, was laying face down and deceased the documents relate.
The owner, Llewellyn A. Roy, was located at the Lewis County Jail, where he been booked after an arrest more than three days earlier.
Charging documents state a necropsy showed the parrot had died of dehydration and starvation.
The neighbor described a bull dog which seemed in better condition than two very thin Mastiff’s with eye infections, one of them in an kennel with a floor compacted with feces, and open sores on its legs, according to the allegations.
Animal Control Officer Jennifer Krueger reported the shape the animals were in would have taken weeks to develop.
Roy is charged with first-degree animal cruelty and second-degree animal cruelty.
When he arrived to the courtroom yesterday afternoon, he used a walker.
Temporary defense attorney Kevin Nelson told the judge Roy owns his home and makes about $2,000 a month, but medical and living expenses take up all of it. He was assigned a court-appointed lawyer.
Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher asked that Roy be allowed release on a $5,000 unsecured bond. Judge Joely O’Rourke agreed.
After the brief court hearing, outside the courtroom, Roy said he didn’t want to comment on his case, but said there was “more” to it.
Charging documents indicate the call to animal control came on July 19, a Wednesday at mid-morning. Centralia police had arrested for Roy for driving under the influence on Plum Street just before midnight on Saturday, July 15, and booked him into jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
Animal Control Officer Krueger reported that after she first spoke to the neighbor, and learned the dogs had been given water, she contacted Roy at the jail asking permission to go into his home to care for the animals, according to charging documents.
He told her he wanted his parents to take care of them, but when she contacted the parents, they wanted nothing to do with it, the documents relate.
Krueger stated in her report that when she and another officer entered the home, she was hit with the stench of dirty dog, cigarettes, urine and feces. She observed garbage all over the floor and a small table in front of a chair that was covered with prescription bottles and beer cans.
The bird cages had not been cleaned in a long time, which contributed to the smell in the house, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello wrote in the court documents.
The animals were taken so they could be cared for, according to Masiello.
Roy’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.