A dog named Shadow was struck with a machete and left with a severe laceration, and police say the people responsible for her care did nothing to get her help.

West Hazleton, Pennsylvania police charged Seth Michael Ponstingl, 23, with felony aggravated cruelty to animals after officers responding to a report of a man threatening family members with a firearm found Shadow injured inside the home. Anna Catherine Ziegler faces felony child endangerment charges and multiple counts of animal neglect, accused of failing to seek medical care for Shadow even after the injury.

The home itself tells a larger story. Police described the residence as deplorable and uninhabitable. Two puppies and two cats were removed alongside Shadow, and two juveniles living in the home were referred to Luzerne County Children and Youth. This wasn't a single act of violence against one animal. It was a household where children and animals were both left unprotected, according to police.

Ponstingl remains jailed on $5,000 bail. Ziegler was released on $15,000 unsecured bail, despite facing felony charges tied to the welfare of children in that home. For a case involving an alleged machete attack, medical neglect, and child endangerment, that release raises real questions about whether the risk to the people and animals in that household was taken seriously enough.

Shadow is recovering at a local animal hospital thanks to the Luzerne County SPCA, which assisted in the investigation. But recovery isn't justice. Courts in Luzerne County should treat cruelty toward animals and neglect of children in the same household as the connected pattern police describe, not separate, lesser problems.

Sign the petition to demand the Luzerne County District Attorney's Office pursue the maximum charges in this case, and press District Judge Kyle Halesey's court to revisit Ziegler's bail before this case moves forward.