A man in unincorporated Dyer is in jail on preliminary charges after law enforcement executed a search warrant at his home and found more than two dozen animals in need of care.
The 28-year-old man is currently in the Lake County Jail on preliminary charges, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department. The Post-Tribune isn’t naming him as the case hasn’t been filed in the county court docket yet.
Officers from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Lake County Sheriff’s Department executed the search warrant Wednesday morning for suspected illegal hunting in the 8500 block of Sheffield Avenue, police said.
When they arrived, a number of animals were in distress, including 23 dogs, 5 cats, 3 Eastern box turtles which are considered endangered species, and 1 snapping turtle. Officers took them into custody and took them to Lake County Animal Control, the Hobart Humane Society and Humane Indiana in Munster for care, police said.
Law enforcement also found at least 29 deer skulls, and a bobcat tail, according to the DNR.
The DNR said the man faces preliminary charges, including 31 counts of illegal possession and taking of whitetail deer, 23 counts of neglect of animals, 3 counts of removing Eastern Box Turtles from the wild, and one count each of possession of an undersized snapping turtle, failure to purchase a hunting license, illegal possession of bobcat (tail), hunting deer with the aid of bait, false informing, and hindering a Conservation Officer, according to the DNR release.
The investigation is ongoing.
