Nyal Barton Piper, 82, and Renee Lynn Piper, 64, were each sentenced to 7.5 to 40 years in state prison, including 12 months of supervision upon release. They were also ordered to pay court fees.

The Pipers each pleaded no contest in June to 20 felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals – torture, 20 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and 10 summary counts of failure to keep dog license. The remaining 435 charges were dismissed.

In his sentence, President Judge Travis W. Livengood upgraded five of the 20 total third-degree felony charges of aggravated cruelty to animals because four dogs had to be euthanized on scene during the rescue and one shortly thereafter due to the abuse.

The charges were filed in March 2024 after a state police search of their Bedford Township home on New Year’s Eve 2023 uncovered nearly 100 animals kept in squalid cages stacked floor to ceiling.

Renee Piper

The cages, often three or four high, were rusted and caked with feces and matted fur, with several containing animal carcasses.

According to reports from volunteers tasked with cleaning out the property, there was a thick layer of animal feces on nearly every section of floor, with mounds of feces piled up in several locations.

Feces stained the walls and ceilings in numerous locations across both floors of the home.

The stench was so noxious, volunteers had to wear gas masks in order to enter the structure.

Many of the animals rescued from the property displayed untreated sores and other signs of severe neglect that required immediate medical intervention.

The rescue sent local animal shelters scrambling in search of space to house all the pets, prompting an unprecedented wave of support from across the region. Community members packed the courtroom Friday in support of the animals.

Evaluating the case

Ahead of Livengood’s sentencing, defense attorney Shawn Cohen called psychologist Dr. Wayne D’Agaro to the stand to testify about both his client, Renee Piper, and her husband Nyal Piper’s cognitive states.

D’Agaro conducted a series of tests this summer designed to evaluate their neurological capacity and any potential mental health concerns.

He evaluated both Pipers as having “severe depression and anxiety,” but otherwise “cognitively intact” and free from other more serious impairments like dementia.

Renee Piper suffers from “family-based trauma” due to a number of incidents throughout her life, but primarily the death of her brother from cancer in 2019.

His death, combined with stress from being the primary caretaker of her 92-year-old mother, caused Renee Piper’s mental health to “spiral,” leading her to begin hoarding animals, D’Agaro said.

Livengood cut off D’Agaro’s presentation twice to admonish the audience to remain silent, after audible laughter and snickering was heard during his testimony.

Piper is a “victim of learned helplessness” stemming from her familial trauma and stressful caretaker status which further enabled her hoarding tendencies, D’Agaro said.

D’Agaro went on to describe three clinical presentations of animal hoarding behaviors based on his knowledge of psychiatric literature.

The first of which is the “overwhelmed caretaker,” which is defined as a well-meaning individual who becomes increasingly overwhelmed over time with the burden of managing their increasing number of animals, leading to an eventual state of neglect.

The second two types, “exploitative hoarder” and the “breeder hoarder” are marked by a lack of empathy toward their collected charges, who only amass the pets out of self-interest with little to no regard for the animals’ wellbeing, he said.

Both Renee and Nyal Piper fit the “overwhelmed caretaker archetype,” D’Agaro said, which could indicate they are less legally liable for their abuse than the other two types.

D’Agaro said that Renee Piper cried and displayed remorse for the impacted pets during their interview.

Upon cross examination from District Attorney Ashlan Clark, D’Agaro said that he made his evaluation solely based on his interviews with the Pipers, plus information provided by their lawyers.

Renee Piper spoke through tears when given the chance to petition Livengood, saying that she tried to provide a good home for her pets and never intentionally harmed any of them.

“I did everything possible to take care of them,” she said, noting that they regularly spent over $2,000 a month just on dog food.

Nyal Piper took a more defiant tone during his speech, first expressing a similar sentiment that he never knowingly abused any animal throughout his lifetime.

He then cited the negative comments about him and his wife posted on the Bedford County Humane Society’s Facebook page, saying he was “shocked at the animosity.”

One commenter even said they should be hung to death, Piper said.

This “inflammatory rhetoric” created a safety concern for him and his wife, Piper said, as the couple were fearful that someone may act on the threats.

Renee Piper’s mother, Maryanne Pathon, read a statement calling Piper “the best daughter she could ever have” for her unyielding support in caring for her.

Pathon, 92, is partially blind and cannot live independently without the assistance of her daughter and son-in-law, she said in asking Livengood for a mediated sentence in light of her care needs.

Prosecutors asked for a sentence at the top of the range in light of the severity of the case, while both defense attorneys asked for extended periods of probation in order to care for Piper’s mother and in light of D’Agaro’s evaluation of the couple.

Livengood explained his reasoning before reading the sentence, calling the case “some of the most extreme I’ve ever seen,” then describing how several images taken inside the Piper home were particularly impactful.

The state of the home, filled with rusty cages, animal carcasses and inches of compressed feces seemingly on every surface, indicated that the Pipers did not make an effort to provide sufficient care for their pets, Livengood said.

Livengood said he found D’Agaro’s assessment of the Pipers “faulty,” since he only considered a limited selection of materials in his evaluation.

Renee Piper’s dedicated care for her mother and Nyal Piper’s over $6,000 a month in retirement benefits showed that the couple had both the “physical and financial ability to care for these animals, but they chose not to,” Livengood said.

Both Pipers submitted multi-page statements advocating on their behalf, neither of which contained more than two sentences expressing remorse for the harmed animals, according to Livengood.

This lack of genuine remorse led Livengood to assess the Pipers as “exploitative hoarders,” not the less malicious “overwhelmed caretakers” as they had been labeled by D’Agaro, he said.

Livengood said that people should “focus on the positives that can come from this case,” in greater public awareness of the early warning signs of animal hoarding, rather than dwelling on the negative consequences incurred in the process.

Show of support

More than 50 local animal advocates and other community members attended the public sentencing in a show of support for the pets rescued from the Piper’s home on New Year’s Eve 2023, many wearing matching shirts bearing photographs of the affected dogs and cats.

Chief among the audience was Kathy Ramsey, shelter manager for the Bedford County Humane Society who led the volunteer response to find homes for the neglected pets in the immediate aftermath of their rescue in early 2024.

Ramsey read an impact statement to the court prior to the sentencing, describing the “PTSD symptoms” she and her staff continue to experience since the rescue nearly two years previous.

“Some volunteers break down in tears when something related to this is ever brought up,” she said.

As Livengood read their sentence, Nyal Piper said “I won’t live that long, but that’s all right,” prior to being escorted out of the courtroom.

After the Pipers and their defense team left the room, a round of raucous applause filled the air, with several attendees cheering and shouting “thank you judge” at Livengood as he retired to his chambers.

Several people congregated outside the courthouse after the sentencing, with Ramsey offering hugs and words of support to those who attended amid a joyful atmosphere.

“I am absolutely thrilled with the outcome of court today,” she said, “and I am grateful for the judge and everyone who attended.”