Former Fairfield official with history of animal abuse now accused of torturing cat, police say

FAIRFIELD — Police say a former town official previously accused of abusing two dogs and killing a cat has been arrested on a new animal cruelty charge.

Raymond Neuberger, 39, was charged Monday with animal cruelty and released after posting $10,000 bond. Neuberger served as a member of Fairfield’s Representative Town Meeting from 2013 to 2017 and ran for state representative in 2016.

Fairfield Police Lt. Michael Paris said Tuesday said the latest charges stem from the torture of a cat. Paris, who did not provide the status of the cat, said the new allegations surfaced as police investigated the previous animal abuse charges filed against Neuberger in October for the beating death of a different cat.

Neuberger was first charged with animal cruelty in 2018 when he faced four counts of first-degree malicious wounding of an animal after police said he injured his thenfiancee’s two 5-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniels, Thor and Charlie.

Police said Neuberger poured boiling water on Thor and fractured several of Charlie’s ribs. Burns covered 8 to 10 percent of Thor’s body when his owner sought treatment for him on June 22, 2017, according to a warrant for Neuberger’s arrest. While Neuberger claimed the burns had occurred when he accidentally spilled hot coffee, veterinarians determined the damage was too extensive to have been caused by a spill and notified authorities, the warrant said.

“The dogs have suffered injuries beyond any reasonable scope that a healthy dog would sustain, let along two dogs,” police wrote in the warrant.

Neuberger denied abusing the dogs and told investigators he did not know how they had been injured, according to police. Neuberger spent 41 days in jail and was sentenced to two years of probation in November 2018. Walking out of the courthouse on Golden Hill Street in Bridgeport, Neuberger celebrated the outcome, shouting, “I’m free!” before driving away with his parents.

In August 2022, Neuberger was charged with cruelty to animals, thirddegree assault and disorderly conduct after police said he attacked his new girlfriend and inflicted blunt-force trauma on her cat, Gem, who later died.

Police said Neuberger beat Gem and doused the cat in bleach while his girlfriend was not home. When Neuberger’s girlfriend returned on Aug. 7, she found Gem in poor condition and rushed the dying cat to an animal hospital, police said. During a necropsy, police said, veterinarians determined Gem had suffered head trauma, collapsed lungs, a ruptured liver and a broken fang.

When confronted, Neuberger initially said he thought Gem may have gotten into bleach as he was cleaning a soiled bed, according to police. He has not entered a plea to the charge of first-degree killing/maliciously wounding an animal and was released after posting $20,000 bond, records show.

Neuberger is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Bridgeport on Feb. 28.