Eleven dogs — six adults and five puppies — were found locked inside a Bane Street home in Warren Township, Ohio, malnourished and living among urine and feces. Photos shared by rescuers showed dogs so thin their ribs were visible through their skin. It took a joint effort from the Healthy Hearts and Paws Project Volunteer Humane Department, Warren Township Police, the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County, and the Trumbull County Dog Warden to get these animals out.

Royce Green, 41, now faces 22 charges under Ohio's companion animal protection law — half of them for depriving these dogs of food and water. This isn't Green's first brush with animal cruelty: in 2014, he pleaded guilty to a dog-fighting conspiracy charge connected to a ring broken up in Akron, and served only 30 days in jail with two years of probation. That light consequence didn't stop a second case from happening.

The 11 dogs are now recovering — three with Healthy Hearts and Paws, eight with the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County — but they shouldn't have to depend on rescuers to undo what one owner allowed to happen. The Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office has the opportunity to hold Green fully accountable this time, on every one of the 22 charges filed against him.

A light penalty here sends the same message that let this happen twice. Sign the petition to urge the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office to pursue full prosecution on all 22 charges against Royce Green — before another animal pays the price for a second chance he didn't use.