In September 2003, authorities seized 49 dogs from Louis Lukcso's junk-strewn property. October 8, 2004, police and animal control officers attempted to capture the remaining dogs on the seven acres at 13 Pine Hill Road.
They arrived at noon and by 2 p.m. had only captured one dog, according to police officer Blain Rogozinski.
They then started setting up traps in an effort to seize them, police said. Police acknowledged that the size of the property, the exceedingly large amount of junk there, and the will of the small dogs were all factors in the difficulty in capturing them.
At 4 p.m., at least one animal control officer was still there, still trying to capture the dogs. There were between 10 and 15 of them on the property, many of them Chihuahuas, Rogozinski.
Plymouth, Oxford, Beacon Falls, and East Haven all sent their animal control officers to assist in capturing the dogs. None of them would identify themselves or comment on the matter.
Police Chief Eugene Torrence said if the traps don't work, then the animal control officers will likely regroup and try another method, possibly next week.
Lukcso, 89, is serving a form of probation that would permit 49 counts of cruelty to animals to be dropped provided he met certain conditions. He appeared in Bantam Superior Court last month to address his failure to meet those conditions.
The conditions included helping authorities remove the dogs from Lukcso's property, and paying $2,000 in restitution for veterinarian care of his former pets.
Cynthia J. Palermo, assistant state's attorney, has said Lukcso has paid the $2,000, but has been "less than willing" to give up the dogs in past efforts to remove them. Lukcso was given until his next court appearance on Oct. 15 to surrender the dogs.
On Friday, police and Lukcso's local lawyer, Robert A. Byers, said Lukcso was cooperative.
Rogozinski said Lukcso was found lying on the ground when police and the animal control officers arrived. Police and Byers said Lukcso was feeling weak and having trouble getting up. Torrence then asked for an ambulance, to have emergency medical technicians check him out.
Shortly after 1 p.m., EMTs strapped him to a chair and carried him down his long, rocky driveway. They put him on a stretcher and took him to Waterbury Hospital for a checkup, police and Byers said. Police said he went voluntarily.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital late Friday night said she did not have time to check Lukcso's condition.
Lukcso was first reported to police and town officials by neighbors who said the dogs were running free and getting hit on nearby Route 8. Case UpdatesLuksco, charged with 49 counts of animal cruelty, was given another chance at probation on Wednesday in Bantam Superior Court.
The case, set for a court appearance on Wednesday, was continued until the end of Luksco�s accelerated rehabilitation date set for Jan. 13, 2006. If at that time, he has not been arrested for any more crimes, the charges will be dismissed.
For more than 20 years, Louis Luksco, 88, kept scores of Chihuahua dogs on his Pine Hill Road property. Animal and health officials visited Luksco many times asking him to clean up his property and take better care of the dogs which lived with him in what they called a state of squalor.
Richard Gregan, state animal control officer from the Department of Agriculture, said that when he visited Luksco to seize the animals, he found the defendant living in a crawlspace under the foundation of his home, with no electricity, running water or toilet. Around the property, he reported in an arrest affidavit, he found piles of junk, dog skeletons and decomposed dogs, and buckets of human excrement.
The circumstances are unfortunate for the elderly man, but at last the problem may be resolved, said Assistant State�s Attorney Cindy Palermo.
Luksco has been ill for a number of weeks and hospitalized, but before he became sick, he gave state animal control officials permission to remove the remaining Chihuahuas on his lot. A year ago, state animal officers seized 50 of the small dogs from Luksco�s property. Some of the animals died and many were treated for fleas and whip worms.
"The state feels Mr. Luksco has substantially complied with the accelerated rehabilitation program," Palermo said. "There are still a couple of dogs on the property, but Mr. Luksco is not able to do anything right now because he is in the hospital." | Source: Register-Citizen - Dec 2, 2004
Update posted on Dec 3, 2004 - 7:32AM |
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