FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)– A duo in Franklin County are accused of severely neglecting dogs, including one that police say would have died within minutes if it wasn’t saved.

Tylor Young, 27, and Nicole Wagerman, 25, both of Waynesboro, were charged Tuesday after two dogs, one of them police say was suffering from starvation, were seized from a Waynesboro home in January, the charges filed state.

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Waynesboro Police said they began their investigation after they were notified by the Blue Ridge Fire Department on Jan. 4 that two boys told them there were two dogs at a home along the 12000 block of Snyder Avenue and that one looked dead.

An officer saw one dog running in an alley next to the home that was underfed to the point police say they could see its ribs and pelvis bones. The second dog was spotted lying on its side in the yard, and police say its entire skeleton was visible, according to the criminal complaint.

The duo told police the dog lying on the ground, named “Dixie”, had depression and they could not tell police the last time the dogs were looked at by a vet. Police also observed there was almost no food in the house, and the duo claimed they fed the dogs in the morning.

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Antietam Humane Society was contacted to take Dixie to an emergency vet and told police they may be back for the other dog, named “Duke.”

According to medical records, Dixie had a body score of one, meaning she was extremely emaciated while Duke was found to have a body score of three, the complaint states.

Dixie was suffering from “refeeding syndrome” so she needed to be put on an eating schedule and her body temperature was too low for a thermostat to read. Additional testing showed that there was mainly dirt in the dog’s stomach and colon, and there were tests that showed parasites in the dog, according to the complaint.

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Due to the dog’s condition, police then executed a search warrant at the home to seize the other canine and, police say the dog was outside in freezing temperatures suffering from hypothermia.

Young and Wagerman then admitted to police after the search that Dixie was severely underweight and that they failed to provide the canine proper medical care, the complaint states.

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Duke was suffering from an “abnormal gait” that police say was possibly from being malnourished or having overgrown nails, and parasites were also inside the dog.

“Considering the totality of the investigation findings and diagnosis and treatment provided by medical professionals, it is my professional opinion that Canine 1 would have succumbed to death within minutes due to severe emaciation and the critical condition observed upon my arrival,” police wrote in the criminal complaint.

The two dogs have both made full recoveries, police said, and noted in the complaint that neither canine suffers from any medical conditions.

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The duo are charged with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals – torture, along with numerous misdemeanor counts of animal neglect and other summary offenses, court documents state.

The duo is currently out on unsecured bail that was set at $10,000 for both of them and they await a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 16.

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