Beacon Falls farm owner faces animal cruelty charges, 99 sheep seized

BEACON FALLS — The owner of a local farm where 99 sheep, a number of cats and a goose were removed over animal welfare concerns has been arrested, the state Office of the Attorney General said.

David Chesnutis, 65, has been charged with animal cruelty, according to Attorney General William Tong’s office. Chesnutis owns the farm on Lopus Road and lives on the property, officials said.

In addition to prosecuting Chesnutis, Tong also seeks to permanently remove the sheep from the man’s care.

“The conditions at this property were beyond deplorable, and the sheep were severely neglected,” Tong said in a statement issued Wednesday. “We are moving for permanent state custody to ensure these animals receive the care and treatment they urgently require and deserve.”

Officials with the state Department of Agriculture

visited the farm on Feb. 23 to conduct an inspection after a neighbor reported dead sheep on the property were attracting vultures, according to the warrant. They found the property “strewn with trash, empty beer cans, construction debris, wooden pallets and empty food containers” as well as bones and sheep carcasses, the Department of Agriculture said.

The surviving sheep exhibited signs of neglect such as hoof overgrowth, skin conditions and parasitic infections, according to Tong’s office. One ewe and a lamb were removed from the farm that day because the lamb required immediate veterinary care, the office said.

Officials obtained a search warrant for the farm and seized the animals living on the property on Feb. 24, according to agriculture officials. Fifteen cats were voluntarily surrendered and turned over to Woodbridge Regional Animal Control, officials said after the raid.

Stragglers were captured in the ensuing days and weeks, according to Karen Lombardi, animal control officer for Woodbridge, noting many of the female cats were pregnant and some of the males bore wounds from fighting with each other. By Wednesday, Tong’s office said, a total of 21 cats had been seized.

“I commend the swift actions of our state’s animal control unit and Regulatory Services staff, along with municipal animal control officers from surrounding towns, to ensure that the animals in question were safely transported to receive the care and medical treatment needed,” Bryan P. Hurlburt, commissioner of the Department of Agriculture, said in the statement.

Following the raid, Patrick Dionne, animal control officer for Waterbury and Beacon Falls, was placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into the farm, Waterbury police said.