Washington County Controller April Sloane accused of starving her dog to death
Washington County Controller April Sloane faces felony charges of aggravated cruelty to animals after police said she starved her dog to death.
The dog, Thor, had been adopted in April 2021. Police said they found his body in the garage of Sloane’s home on Dec. 6. He had been dead since Nov. 27, police said.
Police initiated an investigation into the dog’s death last week after receiving a tip from a Washington County Humane Society officer.
The officer had learned that Thor was being kept in deplorable conditions and provided investigators with a photograph.
A criminal complaint filed Tuesday said that when police went to Sloane’s home, they asked her if she had taken Thor to the veterinarian and she said she had not.
“While interviewing Sloane about the dog, she indicated the dog was buried on a friend’s farm,” the complaint said. “She then began to tear up, and then changed her statement.”
Sloane, 43, told officers the dog’s body was in her basement.
Officers said they found Thor’s body wrapped in a black garbage bag in the back corner of her garage, the complaint said. Officers also found a medium-sized dog cage. The tray for the cage was leaning against a nearby wall, and it appeared to have been recently removed and cleaned, the complaint said.
A necropsy of the dog by the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System showed that Thor died of severe emaciation.
Thor had 0% body fat and weighed only 20 pounds, about half what the dog should have weighed, police said.
The report showed there were no signs of injury or illness.
Sloane was arrested at her office and taken in handcuffs to be arraigned, Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh told Tribune-Review news partner WTAE-TV. She was released on an unsecured bond and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19.
Sloane is charged with two felony counts of aggravated cruelty — one for causing serious bodily injury and one for torture. She also is charged with a misdemeanor count of neglecting to provide veterinary care.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of "Death by Cyanide." She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
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