Witnesses describe inside of home where 3 dogs died
NEW CANAAN — From the outside, the Butler Lane home where police say a dozen dogs were seized in an animal cruelty case appears to be a wellkept property that blends into the quiet neighborhood near the Merritt Parkway on the southern end of town.
But inside, dogs have been living in filth and feces that covered most of the kitchen floor in the four-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot colonial that has been rented out to a halfdozen people at a time, according to testimony and evidence
in a civil case for permanent custody of the animals.
The owner of the home, Catherine Palmer, 48, faces three counts of cruelty to animals in the deaths of three dogs. New Canaan police said at least four dogs
have died in recent months that have been in her care.
Palmer, who is free on $10,000 bond, is contesting the town taking custody of 12 dogs that were seized from the Butler Lane home on Nov. 17.
Dr. Paul Potenza, of the New Canaan Veterinary Hospital, testified during a Dec. 18 hearing on perma
nent custody of the dogs that he treated two adult dogs, five juveniles and five infants. He testified the mother of the litter was thin, and two dogs had ear infections or waxy debris, several had fecal matter matted in their fur and their claws were overgrown. Potenza also testified several of the dogs tested positive for giardia,
which is caused by parasites.
“For the older ones, their condition should be better than it appeared to be in my opinion,” Potenza said while being questioned by Nicholas Bamonte, of Berchem Moses, the law firm representing the town of New Canaan. “They need to be kept clean. I don’t think we need to go into specifics.
... That’s just common hygiene you would provide.”
New Canaan Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm, who seized and took custody of the animals in November when a warrant was issued, testified the animals displayed a “pack mentality,” meaning older dogs were bullying younger puppies away from food. She said that showed the dogs had been kept together as a group and not separated by age.
Halm said the puppies were kept in an enclosure in the kitchen, and photos were entered into evidence showing dog feces covering most of the floor.
Halm said she received the photos from a woman who was hired to clean the kitchen at the Butler Lane residence.
The investigation began in August when Halm was first called by a tenant, who reported one of the puppies was sick.
The tenant also testified during the Dec. 18 hearing, stating six people rented portions of the home from Palmer. The woman testified one man slept on the living room floor and one was living in the basement.
The woman said that she and another person often took care of the dogs out of compassion for the animals.
She said the other tenants were “pretty vocal about not taking care of the dogs.”
The woman testified that Palmer would come and go with dogs, and did not spend long stretches of time at the house.
The tenant said the kitchen was unusable due to the smell from the dogs and the feces on the floor.
Asked if Palmer — who according to police reports has an address in Greenwich — or her children had been at the New Canaan house, the tenant testified they did not live there. In a petition to regain custody of the dogs, Palmer said a therapy dog for her children
was among those seized.
“All the rooms were occupied,” the woman testified. “I don’t know where she would have slept. She just wasn’t there.”
During her testimony, Palmer refuted the tenant’s claims, saying repeatedly that she resided at the Butler Lane home. Palmer also testified that she cared for the dogs or had someone do it for her when she was not around.
Palmer said she was “floored” by the woman’s testimony.
The six-hour hearing ended with Palmer still on the stand. She will continue her testimony on Jan. 8.
The investigation began Aug. 12 when a tenant reported a sick puppy to New Canaan Animal Control.
A tenant then notified Halm on Sept. 21 that three puppies had recently died on Sept. 16, Sept. 20 and Sept. 21, according to Palmer’s arrest affidavit.
Halm was notified on Nov. 12 that there were two adult dogs and 10 puppies still at the residence. On the same day, she applied for an arrest warrant charging Palmer with three counts of cruelty to animals in the deaths of the puppies.
A search-and-seizure warrant was served on Nov. 17 when Animal Control removed five newborn Maltese puppies, their mother, an adult male Maltese, two more female Maltese puppies, two female poodle puppies and a male Yorkie mix, court documents state.
With a warrant out for her arrest, New Canaan police said Palmer drove to various parts of New England selling a “vehicle full of puppies” over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend before turning herself in on Nov. 29. Police said one of the dogs that Palmer delivered to a Massachusetts family around midnight on Thanksgiving died the next day.