There’s been another case of cruelty due to the economy. 28 surviving pets police say were poisoned by a Towamencin Township woman last week are being treated by the Montgomery County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Treatment of the animals- 27 cats and one dog, a pit bull- could last up to three weeks. SPCA staff members are administering daily vitamin K shots to the animals, which should cleanse their bloodstream and liver. The animals will stay at the SPCA until the criminal case is resolved, which could take months, possibly years.
On Tuesday, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office announced that animal cruelty charges were filed against Linda Muchnick, 56, of the 1600 block of E. Bishopwood Blvd. Authorities said she attempted to kill herself and the pets with rat poison because of her financial problems.
Muchnick has yet to be arraigned because she was initially taken to a hospital and later transferred to another, unidentified facility, authorities said. Acting on a tip, township police responded to her house last Thursday, finding her unresponsive and the animals apparently ill.
The SPCA retrieved 29 animals that afternoon and immediately began caring for them by injecting them with vitamin K. One cat eventually died. The animals are housed in SPCA shelters in Conshohocken and Perkiomenville.
The moral of this story: don’t resort to this if you’re having issues, financial or otherwise. If you absolutely cannot afford to take of your animals anymore surrender them to a shelter or give them to a friend or relative to take care of.
