Two aging dogs abandoned, tied in parking lot
Cromwell, CT (US)Incident Date: Monday, Nov 29, 2010
County: Middlesex
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Shawn Horak
Two men have been arrested in connection with the abandonment of two aging and ailing dogs just after Thanksgiving.
The plight of the dogs, Toby, a black Lab, and Sunny, a yellow Lab, provoked anger and outrage, and led to an outpouring of financial assistance for the dogs and numerous requests to adopt them.
Police said Tuesday their appeal to the public for assistance led to several tips that helped identify the dogs' owner.
They say the owner, Shawn Horak, 40, of Glastonbury, abandoned the animals by tying them to a pole in a service station parking lot along busy West Street.
Under prodding from Animal Control Officer Cheryl Gagnon, an attendant at the station, who had originally denied any knowledge of the incident, eventually changed his story and admitted not only did he know the dogs' owner but he also knew the owner had abandoned the dogs.
This past weekend, the two men were arrested on warrants when they came to police headquarters separately.
The dogs were both suffering from malnutrition and other ailments, including severe gum disease and advanced arthritis when Gagnon retrieved them and took them into custody.
They were brought to the Pieper-Olson Veterinary Hospital in Middletown, where they were treated. They slowly began regaining their strength and adding weight, Gagnon said.
In the meantime, she began an investigation into whom and how the dogs came to be tied up at the service station.
The clerk on duty, who was later identified as Muhammad Akhtar, 64, of Middletown, initially denied any knowledge of the episode, Gagnon said Tuesday.
But then police issued a call for the public's assistance, Police Chief Anthony J. Salvatore said.
And in quick order, that request for the public's help "yielded a number of tips," the chief said.
"It was those tips, and that information which enabled ACO Gagnon to identify the dogs' owner," the chief said.
Horak reportedly told Gagnon he had abandoned the dogs because "he no longer had the financial means or time to care for them properly."
He also reportedly told Gagnon that he had told Akhtar what he was doing.
Armed with that information, Gagnon then went back to the service station and confronted Akhtar the clerk, Salvatore said.
In the face of Horak's admission, Ahktar then confessed that his original story was not true, Gagnon said.
Horak was arrested on Sunday; he was charged with two counts of cruelty to animals. Akhtar, who was arrested on Friday, was charged with obstructing an investigation.
Both men were released on $500 bonds for Jan. 25 appearances in Middlesex Superior Court.
In addition to the outpouring of sympathy and support for the two dogs, Gagnon said she also received "numerous applications" from people who wanted to adopt Sunny and Toby.
She finally chose a family that "we felt would provide the best possible home," Gagnon said. And critically for her, the family agreed to take both dogs.
Salvatore thanked residents both for the tips that enabled Gagnon to crack the case, as well as for the support they contributed for the care of the two dogs.
He commended Gagnon for "her diligence and perseverance in pursing the case to a successful conclusion." References |
