Kennel owner guilty in abuse case

The former owner of a dog kennel in West Nottingham was found guilty in the case of a pet whose owner discovered that it had lost most of its tail after a stay at the facility and that later had to be put down.

Pleasant Pet Resort owner Denise Durfor, who now lives in Jewett, Ohio, was found guilty of a single county of neglect of animals, a third-degree misdemeanor, following a threeday trial before Judge Patrick Carmody.

The jury of 10 women and two men deliberated more than seven hours over two days before returning with their verdict on Friday.

Durfor, who testified in her own defense during the trial and said she did not know how Roscoe, the injured Lhasa Apso, had come to lose his tail, was found not guilty of the more serious charge of aggravated cruelty of animals causing injury or death, a felony.

She continues to be free on bail pending sentencing expected to take place in February.

Durfor was arrested by Brandywine Valley Humane

Society Police Officer Daniel Achuff in October 2021 after he was called to investigate what had happened to Roscoe, a 15-year-old dog who had been brought by its owners to the pet kennel in August 2021.

The dog’s owner, Marie Means, said that she had taken Roscoe to the kennel on Aug. 6, 2021, while she went on vacation. She told Achuff that when her daughter went to pick Roscoe up on Aug. 17, 2021, Durfor handed the dog to her and said she had just been bathed and had been wrapped in a towel.

But when the girl went to put Roscoe in her car, she noticed blood on the towel. When she unwrapped the towel, she saw that most of his tail was missing and his flesh was exposed.

In her testimony, Dr. Tanya Emslie of the Lancaster Pet Emergency Treatment clinic in Lancaster County said that Roscoe came to her with his hind quarters covered in fecal material. She estimated that ¾ of his tail was missing, and some of its vertebrae were exposed.

She tried to calm the dog, who she said was depressed and dehydrated, and gave him antibiotics.

There were maggots in his exposed wound, which she cleaned.

The Means took Roscoe to their own veterinarian in Willow Street, Lancaster County. There, Dr. Molly Arnold found that he was severely injured, and while she tried to treat his infection his condition continued to deteriorate and he eventually had to be humanely euthanized. Arnold told chuff that had Rosecoe’s injury been treated in a timely manner while boarding at Pleasant Pet Resort, he would have been able to avoid the severe infection he developed.

Durfor said in her defense that she could not have noticed the injury or caused it because she had been visiting relatives in Ohio during the time period when Roscoe was at the kennel. Prosecution witnesses, however, disputed the time sequence she gave for her absence.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Alyssa Amoroso and Monica Szyszkiewicz. Durfor was represented by attorney Ryan Borchik of Kennett Square.