PLYMOUTH -- Officials think dogs and cats found in a home were without food for a week before neighbors decided to step in.
Authorities took away a dog they believe was abandoned outside of a house in Luzerne County with no shelter or food for at least a week. Three animals were left inside, and the man who lived there is nowhere to be found.
Those animals are now at the Luzerne County SPCA after law enforcement rescued them Wednesday morning from a home in Plymouth. The search is on for the man who law enforcement think might have left them.
There are no name tags hanging off the pit bull's collar or on the terrier and two cats. They were all rescued from a home on Nottingham Street in Plymouth after authorities believe the owner might have abandoned them.
"There's nothing wrong with them," said Luzerne County SPCA Officer Wayne Harvey. "It hasn't been going on that long and the neighbors have been feeding them, so they have food and water."
Neighbors stepped in after realizing the dog was outside in the backyard with no shelter and its food bowls were not being refilled.
"I'm a dog lover so I was quite devastated, and the dog looked better weeks ago," said Lisa Lecce.
Lecce and her son noticed the pit bull had been left outside for at least a week. They called the SPCA who stopped by Monday, leaving a letter for the owner to call them. After waiting a few days, with no call, officials with the SPCA went to rescue the animals. Authorities are looking for whoever left them.
"Call us. Let us know what's going on, a relative, neighbor, let us know what's happening," said Harvey.
"I don't know how you can up and leave," said Lecce. "If you want to leave the house, fine, but to leave and starve to death, it's just sad."
Authorities believe the name of the person who lived at the home was an elderly man named George Deer, but they have not yet located him or any family. Until the owner of the animals is located, the SPCA cannot give them away, because they're still legally his.