HAMILTON — A St. Clair Twp. man has been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly neglecting a little dog whose fur became maggot-infested and so matted it could barely walk.

Glenn Ballard, of the first block of Meadow Drive in the Sharon Park neighborhood, was arrested Tuesday on the second-degree misdemeanor charge when Julie Holmes, acting chief county dog warden, went to his residence to follow up on a previous complaint involving a Pomeranian dog.

Ballard had been cited by Holmes with having a dog running at large and was warned about the dog's condition, according to the Butler County Sheriff's Office report.

Instead, Ballard dropped the dog off at Animal Friends Humane Society in Trenton claiming it was a stray, according to the report.

Leland Gordon, humane society director, said the dog was severely matted with feces and a dryer sheet was embedded in the matts. Hundreds of maggots were in the fur.

"This dog was being eaten alive from the inside out by maggots," Gordon said in a prepared news release.

Because of the dog's horrible condition, it was humanely euthanized, according to Gordon.

He said there has been a series of highly publicized cruelty cases in Butler County.

"I hope that when people read about these cases, they will take better care of their pets. However, there is a small element of this community that just don't get it and choose not to give a good life for their pets. Pomeranians need to be groomed regularly and should not be living 24/7 outside," Gordon said.

According to the sheriff's report, Ballard told Holmes and a deputy that he didn't know the dog was in bad condition, but "never really checked the dog, he just fed it."

Ballard was arraigned in Hamilton Municipal Court Wednesday where a court date was set for

8 a.m. Sept. 19.

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