New Canaan granted temporary custody of 12 seized dogs

NEW CANAAN — A state Superior Court judge has granted the town temporary custody of 12 dogs seized as the owner faces animal cruelty charges.

New Canaan Animal Control seized the pets last month after police said three dogs were found dead in September in a Butler Lane home owned by Catherine “Cassie” Palmer.”

Palmer, a Greenwich resident who rents out the New Canaan home, is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 22 in state Superior

Court in Norwalk on three counts of cruelty to animals. Before turning herself in on Nov. 29.

Palmer spent the Thanksgiving holiday weekend delivering a “vehicle full of puppies,” including one in Massachusetts that died the day after she dropped it off, police said.

On Monday, Superior Court Judge Kenneth Povodator issued a ruling in the town’s request for temporary custody of the dozen dogs, stating there was evidence that Palmer neglected the dogs at her home.

Palmer had argued that documents she provided showed she had the dogs vaccinated for parvovirus, which was a cause of death of all three puppies. Povodator, however, agreed with Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm, who said the documents showed handwritten notes and “vaccinations appear to be in the nature of owner diaries.”

“There is no way of correlating any such attached tags with any dog or any date of treatment other than the representation of the defendant,” Povodator wrote in his ruling.

Information such as name, date of acquisition, name of veterinarian, and more was missing, he added.

Povodator wrote that Palmer directed that the first sick dog not be taken to the vet, and told a tenant to give the dog a “syrup.”

The judge said Palmer made a “conscious decision not to have the dog seen by a veterinarian, leaving it to the tenants to bury the dog in the backyard when the defendant’s prescribed response proved inadequate.”

When two other puppies showed signs of parvovirus, the judge said aggressive action was needed.

In his ruling, Povodator wrote that there appeared to be “multiple aspects of neglect and disregard for the welfare of the animals.”

“Who was responsible for the care of as many as a dozen or more dogs in her absence?” the judge questioned in his ruling.

He said an informal arrangement with a tenant and visits three to four visits a week by a professional cleaner was not enough.

Palmer, who is free on $ 10,000 bond, is scheduled to appear Dec. 18 for a second hearing on the town’s petition to take permanent custody of the dogs. During the first hearing last week,

Palmer denied neglecting the three dogs that died.