Muncie restaurant owner charged with animal cruelty in custody

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — A Muncie restaurant owner sought by police since March who faces animal cruelty charges is now in custody.

45-year-old Dion Sloss has now been arrested in Indianapolis according to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office.

The arrest happened Wednesday around 6 p.m. at a house in the 3600 block of Lace Bark Drive.

In late March, investigators said they found six dead dogs and 10 others living in filth on his Delaware County property.

Animal care workers said some of the dogs were malnourished and living in piles of their own feces. Four of the dead dogs were stuffed into garbage bags or empty pet food bags, animal care works said.

“We’re very pleased charges have been filed,” Melissa Blair of the Muncie Animal Shelter said. “We can only hope that justice prevails.”

Sloss owns Pitts BBQ and Soul Food on North Walnut Street in Muncie.

His son said he’s now running the restaurant and the family plans to transfer ownership to Sloss’s father. Sloss’s son said he’s tried calling his father but he hasn’t heard from him or seen him in about a month.

The surviving dogs are now in temporary foster care.

“The dogs are doing great,” Blair said. “They are becoming wonderful, loving dogs. They’re getting the food and the proper nutrition they need.”

Deputies said Sloss had three active warrants out for his arrests two civil and one felony for nonsupport of a dependent child.

As a result of the March investigation, Sloss faces 16 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to an animal.

An initial hearing is set for July 11 in Delaware Circuit Court.