Police: 2 children found in dog cage inside 'filthy' Jeannette home
JEANNETTE, Pa. (KDKA) - A Jeannette man is facing multiple charges after police said they found two children inside a dog cage playing with feces.
Police said when they were called to North Fourth Street for two dogs hit by a vehicle on Saturday, they found 26-year-old Brian Brabant, the owner, in the street next to one of the dogs.
According to the criminal complaint, police helped Brabant, who appeared "highly intoxicated," back to his home on North Carolina Way. Police said a witness went inside to check on the dogs and saw two children inside a dog cage with a cat.
The criminal complaint said the officers went inside and found the children in the cage playing with cat feces. The door was closed but not latched shut, and police said one else was home.
Quanisha Knauss, Brabant's fiancé, said the dogs belong to them and the children are her sister's kids. Knauss said she believes the kids were playing with the cage, and she said the door was not shut or locked.
"The doors is never locked, constantly opened on both sides, and they would just go in, put the cat in there because they see the dogs go in and out every time, they are bad and they would put the cat in there and they thought, 'dogs do it, we can do it with the cats,'" said Knauss.
According to the criminal complaint, the children were covered in feces and dirt with bug bites all over their arms and legs. It also said the home was filthy with a lot of bugs flying around.
The paperwork details how the children's mother said Brabant was the babysitter responsible for the care of her two children while she was at work that day and that she had no one else to watch them.
Knauss said she doesn't know how the dogs, named Bear and Nala, got out of the home. The dogs were taken and she believes the dog named Bear died from its injuries.
"He's not a bad person," said Knauss. "When it comes to kids, he's a sweetheart. He loves the kids. He doesn't put the kids in danger."
CYS responded to the scene, and they released the children to the custody of their mother, who is staying with relatives.
Brabant is facing multiple charges, including aggravated assault, simple assault and endangering the welfare of children.
