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HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT)- The Vanderburgh Prosecutor’s Office has announced that Shayna Faye Burko has plead guilty to seven felony-level counts of cruelty to an animal in the Vanderburgh Circuit Court.
Burko was arrested in July after authorities say they found a dead dog and canine body parts in an Evansville home along Mooring Road.
According to an arrest affidavit, a neighbor told deputies they had not seen the homeowner in a few weeks. Deputies said Shayna Burko was supposed to be looking after the animals in the home.
In her interview, Shayna Burko, who has a prior conviction in Warrick County for cruelty to an animal, admitted to knowing the dogs were at the residence and failing to care for them.
After executing the search warrant, officers entered the home and were met with a “putrid” smell and rooms filled with urine and feces.
There was a deceased German Shepard dog inside a closed kennel and a detached head of a dog, both found in the living room. In the hallway, officers found a detached dog limb. There were five living dogs inside the residence, one of which was missing a paw different from the limb found in the hallway.
Animal Control removed the five dogs from the residence, several of which were malnourished.
Prosecutor Diana Moers talked about the case.
“Those who abuse or neglect some of the most innocent in our society—animals—will be investigated and face harsh legal consequences.” Prosecutor Moers went on to say. “Here, these innocent and completely helpless dogs were counting on the defendant to take care of them, but she left them to suffer and die while she carried on with her own life. I am thankful for the citizen heroes who called the police in this case as well as animal control and the deputies who were able to remove the remaining living dogs from this house of horrors and bring them to safety. It is my prayer that these dogs find loving homes and healing.”
Burko is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
