A former kennel owner was in court Thursday facing charges relating to 38 neglected animals that SPCA animal control officers removed from his property last May.

Derbe Eckhart, 50, of Central Road in New Tripoli, was set to appear for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, but showed up more than a half-hour after it was scheduled to begin.

Magisterial District Judge Tom Clair Creighton held the hearing in absentia, and held all charges against Eckhart for trial.

Creighton said that Eckhart had run into car trouble not far from the district court office. However he denied prosecutors’ request to issue a bench warrant because Eckhart did show up at the office.

Court documents say that of the 38 animals, two kittens had to be euthanized. One was suffering from pneumonia and the other was emaciated.

In all, 32 cats, four horses and two dogs were removed from Eckhart’s home on Central Road under a search warrant executed on May 5, 2017. Eckhart told animal control officers with the Pennsylvania SPCA that all the animals either belonged to him or his partner, Bryan Smith.

Many of the animals needed emergency veterinary care.

The cats suffered from one or more conditions including diarrhea, upper respiratory infections, ringworm, ear mites, ear infections, fleas, high fevers and underweight conditions. Some had missing fur.

The cats were kept in cages located in the bedrooms of the home. In one cage there were six kittens and a mother as well as a female.

Records showed that Eckhart had sought treatment for some of the kittens, but did not follow through when their conditions continued to decline.

Officers reported that in some cages, the litter boxes were overflowing and the cages were littered with feces.

A female terrier was found inside a cage nursing newborn puppies. Officers said she had an untreated abscess beneath her eye that had ruptured. Medical records showed she had been treated for a tooth abscess in April, but could not have surgery because she was pregnant.

Officers also removed the dog’s puppies due to them needing to be nursed.

An underweight miniature poodle was also removed because of diarrhea and low weight.

Outside the home, officers observed a horse barn. Two horses outside the barn were removed — one at Eckhart’s request — because of underweight conditions. One had unmaintained hoofs.

They removed two male horses and a female miniature horse that was living inside the barn.

All of the horses were living in manure.

The female miniature horse was underweight and had a large, untreated wound on her left side. One of the male horses had a large wound on his face in addition to being underweight. Officers said that the male horse had been treated a year before, but the veterinarian stopped treatment due to Eckhart not paying. The vet who treated the horse reportedly sent text messages to Eckhart, but he never had another veterinarian come to look at the horses.

Eckhart has more than five convictions on animal cruelty charges dating back to 1988 in Carbon and Lehigh counties. In 1988, he served jail time for neglecting 45 dogs at a kennel in Mahoning Township. He was slapped with a 30-year ban by the American Kennel Club for his violations.

More recently, he was found guilty in connection with neglect of animals ranging from birds to capuchin monkeys to Clydesdale horses at his former kennel, Almost Heaven Farm, in Upper Milford Township, Lehigh County.

Eckhart’s case now goes to common pleas court in Lehigh County, where he has a formal arraignment set for March 6.