Dog severely neglected Coventry, CT (US) Incident Date: Friday, Mar 31, 2006 County: Tolland Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Case Images: 1 files available Alleged: Gail Able

Case ID: 8181 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in CT (US) Suspect was in animal welfare field Login to Watch this Case

A house of cruelty with animals living in deplorable conditions. Floors covered in garbage and feces and there's no heat. The house is on Dunn Road in Coventry and police say the woman charged should have known better. Animal lovers will be sickened by what was found in a Coventry home and that's why the woman who police say was responsible for it has been arrested.

A dog was found with fur matted down and infections all over its body. It was found with no food or water inside 46-year-old Gail Able's home in Coventry. Able was charged with cruelty to animals. "I think it's about time," says Phillip Giguere who lives two doors down. Giguere says his family has called the authorities because of Able more than once. So have other neighbors.

"She always had this wooden pen full of I'd say 8 to 10 dogs," he said. "They were disgusting, they would get out their hair was grimy, it was just gross."

But perhaps what surprised us most -- not how bad the place looks, but how big it is. Dozens of places to house animals, all in various states of disrepair and in what seem to be very unsanitary conditions. We counted not one, but two, three, four, five dog houses a half-dozen cages, well over a dozen crates and empty bags of dog food and overturned waterbowls were everywhere.

We couldn't track Able down, but we did go to where she works...a veterinary clinic in Avon.
One of her neighbors told us off camera she's worked for a number of different vets over the years. He says she does care about animals and even helped save one of his pets. But he's at a loss how anyone -- let alone an animal lover -- could allow this to happen. The dog seized is in treatment and is being held pending the outcome of Able's court case. She's already posted $5,000 bond. She is due in front of a judge on May 3, 2006.

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References

	Eyewitness3 News - April 22, 2006
	Journal Inquirer - April 22, 2006

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