8 animals rescued from apartment squalor
Bristol, CT (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Apr 22, 2006
County: Hartford
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Jessica M Franco
» Thomas Provenzano
A man and his girlfriend have been charged with animal cruelty after keeping eight animals in an apartment so fouled by animal waste that officers who searched it were overcome by the odor, police said. Jessica M. Franco, 21, of 20 Muzzy St., was arrested April 22, and Thomas Provenzano, 21, of the same address, was arrested Wednesday.
Police said the couple lived with the animals. The investigation started in early April after officers who arrested Provenzano on domestic violence charges saw the conditions in the apartment. According to an affidavit for Provenzano's arrest on the animal cruelty charges, the smell was so bad that officers had to go outside periodically for fresh air. Officers said they would have gone into the apartment wearing biohazard suits and air masks had they known how bad the conditions were inside, the affidavit states. One officer compared the smell to that of a decomposing human body.
Inside the apartment were three pit bull puppies and three adult pit bulls, one of which appeared to be used for dog fights and had a number of scars, the affidavit states. There were also two cats in the apartment. Police said they found no food for the animals and that the puppies ate for 40 minutes without stopping once they were given food at the city's animal shelter. When questioned about the apartment, Provenzano told police that he tried to clean up the mess with a shovel but quit when he got tired.
Provenzano was arraigned Wednesday in Superior Court in Bristol, and his case was continued to May 25. Franco is due back in court June 15. References« CT State Animal Cruelty Map
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