Former Dog Trainer Convicted on Eight Counts of Animal Cruelty

The charges stem from an investigation that began in December 2021.

Timothy Helser. Photo provided.

(Dearborn County, Ind.) - Timothy Helser has another year to serve stemming from an animal cruelty case. 

In 2024, Helser pleaded guilty to eight misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty from an incident in 2021.

It was December 16, 2021, when Greendale Police Department was dispatched to the former B&W Motors on US 50 in Greendale in response to a report of abandoned dogs. The building's owner informed Sergeant Davis that Helser, who had been renting the property to train dogs, was evicted earlier that day and left the premises in a U-Haul but failed to retrieve the dogs he had left behind.

At that time, investigators found two dogs in in kennels and six in crates, all said to be living in horrendous conditions. According to a news release, the dogs were sitting in urine and feces with no food or water, several were malnourished, and one appeared to be in very poor health with eye injuries. 

The eight dogs were removed from the building by Dearborn County Animal Control and taken to PAWS. Neither the Greendale Police Department nor Dearborn County Animal Control had been able to contact Helser in the five days following the eviction. Outside the building, officers found two garbage bags left by the property owner, who had been attempting to clean the premises. One bag contained the decomposing remains of two small puppies, estimated to be 5-8 months old. The second bag held the remains of an older, more decomposed dog. lnside the building, a crate contained the skeletal remains of another dog.

A week after the initial discovery, the property owner found additional remains on the property, bringing the total number of deceased dogs to nine. 

ln January of 2022, charges were filed and the warrant remained active until the defendant was arrested in February of 2024. The Defendant withdrew his original plea of not guilty and entered a guilty plea to all eight counts of animal cruelty with sentencing at the discretion of the Honorable Jonathan N. Cleary.

Helser was sentenced to four years with zero suspended to probation. He will complete his sentence at the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center on February 2, 2026. 

"This was a difficult case for law enforcement, Dearborn County Animal Control Officers, PAWS, the property owner and my office to understand how a person, under the guise of being a dog trainer could so inhumanely treat and then abandon dogs", stated Prosecutor Lynn Deddens. "lt took a bit to get Mr. Helser extradited back to the state of lndiana on misdemeanor charges. I am happy justice was served."