Couple placed on house arrest after dog found frozen to death

A St. Clair Twp. couple has been sentenced after a dog was found frozen earlier this year in their backyard.

Henry Ensor Jr., 57, and Saundra Ensor, 54, both pleaded guilty Monday in Hamilton Municipal Court to one count each of cruelty to companion animals, a second-degree misdemeanor. Each faced a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail.

FIRST REPORT: Dog found frozen to death outside Butler County home

Judge Dan Gattermeyer sentenced them both to 60 days of electronically monitored house arrest, four years of community service and a $300 fine. In addition, neither are allowed to own animals or live where there are animals.

A male German shepherd was found frozen in its plastic dog house on Jan. 2 at the Ensor residence, according to Butler County Dog Warden Supervisor Kurt Merbs.

“We were the ones who told them their dog was dead,” Merbs said.

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Humane officers were called to the residence in the 4700 block of Morganthaler Road to check on the welfare of the dog. Merbs said they found the dog in the plastic house with very little straw. The animal, he said, was head down in the snow.

The dog was also chained to a tree, and there was another wooden house in the yard that was barely reachable by the dog.

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