Conn. animal abuse, neglect cases on rise this year, advocates say
A Husky shot between the eyes in Stafford. Two severely injured pit bulls at the side of a Hartford road — one with its ears torn off. An emaciated pit bull found dead in Coventry.
The cases of animal abuse and neglect in Connecticut this year appear to be more common, and more extreme, than in the past.
“I couldn’t tell you why, but it is happening,” said Police Capt. Robert Burroughs of Stratford, where a malnourished dog with ear infections, missing teeth and matted fur was found last month. “I have no idea why.”
“It has been an issue that’s been upticking,” he said.
As of Thursday, there were 33 new cases of animal abuse and neglect in the state this year, according to Zilla Cannamela, co-founder and president of Desmond’s Army Animal Law Advocates, a group of animal rights activists.
That compares to 28 new cases during a longer stretch of time last year, from Jan. 1 to May 27, she said.
“Just in January, we’re getting like two cases a week,” Cannamela said. The abuse also “is becoming increasingly alarming in the level of violence,” she said.
Her organization offers rewards for the arrest and prosecution of animal abusers, such as $10,000 for the person or people responsible for the dead pit bull found at the side of the road in Coventry on March 2.
A veterinary technician found the female dog inside a garbage bag in an open, toppled bin near Route 6. She had holes on her chest that police initially thought came from buckshot, but a necropsy showed it was from smaller animals, like bugs or birds, after the dog had died, said the investigator, Coventry officer Michelle Kurkoff.
The pit bull also had sustained trauma and had given birth in the last year, Kurkoff said. In addition, the dog was malnourished: The only thing in her stomach was an inedible object, she said. Police continue to investigate her death and would welcome any information about what happened to her, Kurkoff said.
Cannamela thinks the recent violence against animals reflects what she said is a general societal trend in the same direction.
“I think that the level of violence — we’re seeing that across the board. It’s not just against animals. We’re seeing it across the country. And animals are an easy target because they can’t say anything,” she said. “Anyone capable of doing it to animals, they’re capable of doing it to kids, to the elderly, to their partners.”
The recent violent acts against animals seem to stem from different circumstances.
The Stafford Husky, Zeus, survived being shot twice in the head near his home. He slipped out of the house on March 28 when someone opened a door to go to school, said Audrey Owens, the owner’s mother. Huskies like to run and Zeus is no exception, she said; he’s gotten out before.
“It was intentional for sure,” Owens said of the shooting, which left the dog with a traumatic brain injury.
As Zeus slowly recovers, state troopers continue to investigate the shooting. Owens started a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise money for his burgeoning medical bills on behalf of her son, Nicholas DeNunzio, 18, a senior at Howell Cheney Technical High School in Manchester. The fund surpassed its $10,000 goal by $6,000; donations also are being made to the Stafford Veterinary Center.
The day after Zeus was shot, a volunteer with Dog Star Rescue found two severely injured pit bulls on the side of Albany Avenue in Hartford. One had its ears ripped off and was so badly injured it had to be euthanized, police said.
Hartford Lt. Aaron Boisvert said police are investigating the possibility the dogs were being used for dogfights.
As city police continue to investigate that case, Desmond’s Army is offering an $11,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of those responsible.
Elease McConnell, an animal control officer in Manchester for 25 years and former president of the CT Municipal Animal Control Officers’ Association, has handled abuse cases ranging from a 2010 cockfighting operation to the recent arrest of an unlicensed woman who performed an illegal C-section on a dog. The surgery was done on a kitchen table that was not sterile while people smoked marijuana nearby, according to an arrest warrant; the dog became severely infected and was euthanized.
“In all the years that I have been doing this, I don’t remember animal cruelty being so prevalent,” McConnell said. “I feel like I have been seeing and hearing of a lot more animal control officers speak of cases.”
She said it’s possible that more people are educated about animal abuse and are reporting it.
“I don’t know if more people are deciding to — if you see something, say something — report it and it’s getting followed up on, or if more are actually happening,” McConnell said.