Warrant: Former Fairfield official with history of animal abuse tortured cat with chemicals
FAIRFIELD — A former town official who was previously charged twice with animal cruelty was arrested again Monday after a woman came forward with allegations he had severely burned a cat with chemicals, a warrant for his arrest stated.
Raymond Neuberger, 39, was charged Monday with animal cruelty and released after posting $10,000 bond. He served as a member of Fairfield’s Representative Town Meeting from 2013 to 2017 and ran for state representative in 2016.
In all three animal abuse cases, police said Neuberger injured pets owned by women he was dating or planned to marry.
Fairfield police said the latest charge stems from a complaint filed by a woman who notified police after hearing about Neuberger’s arrest in October in connection with the beating death of a cat named Gem. Police said Gem was killed during a domestic violence incident. Neuberger’s charges of cruelty to animals, third-degree assault and disorderly conduct in that case remain pending.
A former roommate of the woman who was involved in the domestic incident reported to police that Neuberger abused another cat named Pearl in February 2022, according to a warrant on the new charge.
The roommates shared ownership of Pearl when the one woman began dating Neuberger in November 2021, the warrant stated.
Pearl suffered severe burns while alone with Neuberger in February 2022, the warrant stated. Pearl appeared to have been burned so severely that the cat required extensive treatment, including having her tail amputated, according to the warrant. Due to the cost, the women signed ownership of Pearl over to the animal hospital where she was being treated, the warrant stated.
Fairfield police said their investigation uncovered Pearl’s extensive injuries, including that she had been burned by a chemical “down to the muscle” on her abdomen, the warrant said.
Police also discovered text messages indicating that Pearl had landed in a toilet that had been filled with chemicals in February 2022 while she was alone with Neuberger, the warrant said.
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 then-fiancee’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 injuries were too extensive to have been caused by a spill and notified authorities, the warrant said.
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. Previous reporting from Staff Writers Caroline Tein and Daniel Tepfer was included in this story.