A joint investigation by the Burlington County Humane Police, Springfield Township Police, Florence Township Police and ACO George Ondusko has resulted in charges being filed in the death of a 6-month-old pit bull puppy.
The dead puppy was found in a recycling bucket at a motel on Rt. 130 in Florence on Monday night.
According to officials, the owner of the puppy was staying at the motel but was not allowed to have the puppy there. The owner the arranged for the puppy to be taken to a farm in Springfield to be watched by the owner of the property.
ACO Ondusko contacted the Burlington County Humane Police Chief at approximately 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night to advise her of the dead puppy and the last known address of the dog while it was alive.
Chief Cheryl Mosca arrived at the Motel in Florence and met with George Ondusko and Florence Police. Shortly after, Ondusko and Mosca went to the address in Springfield Township where
Springfield police and Humane police questioned Richard Bijacsko, 51, who was caring for the dog.
According to authorities, Bijacsko allegedly said that the dog broke its leash and was hit by a car on Rt. 68. He said he carried the dog into the house and then put him in a recycling bucket and took the dog back to the owner and dropped it off. The area of Rt. 68 was searched but no evidence was found to corroborate his account of what happened.
According to Bijacsko, he couldn’t tell police exactly where he picked the dog up because he had been drinking and couldn’t remember the location.
However, the dogs’ body was taken to a vet and x-rays were taken of the dog's head which revealed that the dogs’ skull sustained multiple fractures. According to the vet, the injuries were not consistent with those typically seen in an accident involving a vehicle.
Investigators returned to Bijacsko's home where he allegedly admitted hitting the dog in the head two times with the back side of an ax. The dog allegedly caused some problems so he “took him out.”
The BCSPCA Humane Police recovered the alleged ax used in the incident.
Bijacsko was charged with inflicting unnecessary cruelty to a living creature, cruelly beating a living creature, and causing the death of a living creature.