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Police were called to 46-year-old John S. Stoltzfus Jr.'s Hollander Road home in New Holland on Oct. 31, 2023 for the death of four black Sheepadoodle puppies named Tammy, Terry, Todd, and Tom, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said.
New Holland Police had gotten a complaint from an employee at Greenfield Puppies, which received a call from Stoltzfus asking to take the four puppies off their website because he'd put them to sleep because the "black puppies aren't selling," the DA's office said.
Stoltzfus apparently said he did not take the dogs to a veterinarian and “did it himself.” Lancaster County Detectives and a PSPCA Officer responded to the 600 block of Hollander Road around 9:35 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2023, and spoke with Stoltzfus, who said he put the puppies in a compost pile on the property, the DA's office said.
A search warrant was executed at Stoltzfus’ property the same day. Stoltzfus said he “put them down” in reference to the puppies and said, “We have a way of doing it, we took good care of them," a news release says.
When asked by a detective to show where the puppies were, Stoltzfus pointed to a floor drain inside a barn where cow manure runs off. The detective did not see any puppy remains in the area.
Stoltzfus waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday, May 15 before Magisterial District Judge Jonathan Heisse on four counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and four counts of cruelty to animals.
He remains free after posting $10,000 unsecured bail and is on pre-trial supervision and prohibited from buying, breeding, or selling any domestic animals. Stoltzfus is scheduled to be arraigned June 14.
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