An Emporium man was acquitted Tuesday of two counts of animal cruelty at a jury trial in Cameron County Court.

Raymond J. Jordan, 74, of Downey Hollow Road, was found not guilty by the jury of two counts of cruelty to animals/maim domestic animal, both misdemeanors, and not guilty of two summary counts of harassment by President Judge Richard Masson, court records indicate.

In a statement by Jordan’s attorney, Paul Malizia, he explained, “In the fall of 2017, Jordan was plagued with his neighbor’s chickens escaping their pen (Robert Langelier) over 150 yards away, traveling onto his property, where they repeatedly defecated on the patio chairs on his porch and on his tractor in his shed.

“Jordan had sent Langelier a letter in September of 2016 stating that if the latter did not keep the chickens off of his property he would ‘get rid of them,’” Malizia stated. “The problem continued and Jordan shot two chickens on his own property on July 10 and 11, 2017.”

In September 2017 — more than a month after Jordan was charged — Pennsylvania’s law of animal cruelty completely changed.

Malizia noted, “It is not clear whether the new law would have resulted in charges for the same conduct.”