Stevens County couple charged with animal cruelty after animals found in filthy conditions

Two people have been charged with animal cruelty after disturbing photos and descriptions surfaced of conditions at a property near Deer Park.

When deputies arrived at the property on Monday to arrest the Hostetlers, they reported that Thomas Hostetler reached for a gun holstered at his waist hidden underneath his shirt before running away. He surrendered after a brief chase, according to court documents.

Theresa and Thomas Hostetler were arrested on charges of first-degree animal cruelty and confinement of an animal in an unsafe manner. Their bond was set at $5,000 and they have since bonded out of the Stevens County Jail.

After he was arrested, Thomas Hostetler said he “was able to keep some” dogs and planned to get others back, court documents state.

Nearly 40 dogs and some cats were removed from their property at 5406 Peggy Way west of Deer Park last week. Some dogs were running loose, some were chained up and others were in small pens.

A neighbor called Stevens County deputies about the dogs on May 2 and a deputy who originally responded said he had to pepper spray an aggressive dog seven times when it repeatedly tried to attack him, according to court documents.

When deputies returned later that night they had to pepper spray two aggressive dogs and used a Taser against a third, court documents state.

The Hostetlers agreed to give up their animals and two rescue groups, Rescue4all and HEART, were called in.

In some pens, the feces and urine was up to a foot thick. Several dogs had large open wounds. Another had a too-small collar embedded in its neck, and one dog was infested with three different types of worms. Rescuers also reported finding a mother dog attached to a chain that was too short for her to get to her 3-day-old litter of puppies, according to court documents.

The dogs appeared to have food, but rescuers reported that the dogs were “terrified” of human contact. Thomas Hostetler told deputies that most of the dogs had never been off their chains or out of their enclosures, court documents state.

Neighbors reported that a horse on the property died of starvation a couple of years ago and the Hostetlers fed it to the dogs, according to court documents. Other neighbors told deputies that the Hostetlers had hidden several dogs from investigators and rescuers.

The remains of several animals were also found on the property.