A McHenry man has been found not guilty on allegations that he starved Meatball and Karma, two 3-year-old female pit bulls.

Jason Pastryk, 29, had been charged with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and neglect of animal owner’s duties, records show.

His attorney, George Kililis, said Pastryk “is a young man” with mental health struggles who has “not had the easiest of lives. In the end the government could not prove the case.”

Authorities said when they found Meatball and Karma on Sept. 13, 2024, they had been starved to the point of being emaciated, their bones showing through their skin, according to complaints and information filed in McHenry County court.

Pastryk still faces animal cruelty offenses in another case in which he was charged while on pretrial release on the 2024 case. In the pending case, he is accused of starving two other pit bulls named Max and Eleven to the point of emaciation, prosecutors said.

Max, renamed Maxine, is currently in foster care awaiting adoption and Eleven, renamed Evie, was adopted recently by a Lake in the Hills family, Kristy Michalski, volunteer lead placement coordinator and lead behavior specialist for Almost Home Foundation in Schaumburg said.

The dogs had been in the care of McHenry County Animal Control for about six months after they were removed from the property.

Pictures of the dogs at the time they were found were “heartbreaking, gut wrenching,” Michalski said. But today, they look healthy, beautiful and happy, she said.

Michalski said she changed their names so they could leave their pasts behind them and start a new life. Michalski said both dogs are “the sweetest” and once she saw them she “was determined to save them.”

In the pending case, authorities said about 2 p.m. Sept. 3, the two female pit bulls, both 4 years old, were found on Pastryk’s property. Both dogs experienced “cruel treatment, starvation and abuse,” according to a criminal complaint.

Like in the case of Meatball and Karma, Pastryk is accused of failing to “provide adequate shelter, care and nourishment” for the dogs and they had “visible signs of starvation including emaciation.” Both dogs were “infested with flea and tick bites, and had urine burns on multiple parts” of their bodies, according to the complaint.

According to a motion in Pastryk’s file, the dogs had been living ”in an area full of feces and urine consistent with being present for a long period of time without care." Prosecutors described the conditions the dogs were found in as “unfit for any animal.”

Following the bench trial before Judge Justin Hansen, Pastryk was released from custody. He’d been detained in the county jail since Feb. 19 when his pretrial release on his 2024 case was revoked. He was detained after being arrested on a warrant.

Pastryk is due back in court on his pending case in May.