Suspected animal remains found in garage freezer behind Michigan restaurant
The owner of a restaurant in Jackson, Michigan, reported what is believed to be the remains of several dead animals left behind in a garage freezer when he took over the property.
The current owner of The Parlour of Jackson, Scott Pienta, related the circumstances in a video he recorded Sunday, about an hour after he said that his family notified local authorities of the situation. The business also responded to questions from the public about the circumstances via conversations on the Facebook page.
"We are still wide open, our health department is good. This was in the garage part," the business said in response to one of the questions.
The Parlour is on Daniel Road and features ice cream, hot dogs and burgers on its menu.
The owner said that when he bought the restaurant, there were a number of items, including freezers and refrigerators, left behind in a separate garage. Those items didn't belong to either him or the former owners, but to someone else. He added that he had asked that woman for months to remove her possessions that remained on site.
"I don't go rummaging around her stuff, looking for anything in there," he said about the stored items.
On Sunday, Pieta's son learned details of what might be in the coolers.
"Once my son was aware of it, we made proper calls to the authorities to let them deal with it," Pieta said in his video.
Jackson Police Department responded to a report of animal cruelty at that location, according to the department logs, and officers then handed over the investigation to Jackson County Animal Control.
That's the point on Sunday when Pieta said he decided to record his video, saying people would notice law enforcement and animal control on site, and he wanted to give a statement about what was happening.
Jackson County Animal Control has since confirmed to CBS News Detroit that they are investigating the situation, saying items suspected to be animal remains that were found in the storage area will be tested. Officials say seven dogs and three other species of animals were found, and several animals were missing heads and feet. Test results could take a couple of weeks.