New Canaan Woman’s Animal Cruelty Charges Upgraded to Felonies

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[Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Greenwich Free Press.]

Outside state Superior Court in Bridgeport Wednesday morning, protesters waved signs honoring “the Fairfield Five,” a reference to five dogs who died in the care of New Canaan resident Heidi Lueders while she was living in Fairfield last year. The protesters, many of them affiliated with dog advocacy groups, asked for animal cruelty charges lodged against the 31-year-old to be upgraded to felonies. Lueders had been charged by Fairfield Police with five misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty as well as one count of criminal damage to a landlord’s property by a tenant, a felony. During an arraignment in which Lueders pleaded not guilty (see more below), prosecutors upgraded the charges as many in attendance wished. Under state law, first-time offenders found guilty of animal cruelty in cases such as Lueders’s can face a fine of up to $1,000 and up to one year in prison for each offense.

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Attorney: New Canaan Woman Arrested for Animal Cruelty Has Received Death Threats [UPDATED]

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Update 2:20 p.m. Wednesday

The 31-year-old New Canaan woman arrested by warrant this month on animal cruelty charges has received numerous death threats and abuse through social media, according to an attorney representing her Wednesday in a separate matter. People have been calling Heidi Lueders since it was made public that five dogs that died in her care while she was living in Fairfield, said David Bothwell, a public defender in state Superior Court in Norwalk representing the woman for bond purposes following her arrest Tuesday night. Lueders was arrested by New Canaan Police following a domestic violence incident on charges of second-degree threatening, third-degree assault and disorderly conduct. Police withheld details of the incident, saying it was a domestic matter. Flanked by judicial marshals in the jury box with three others “overnights” being arraigned, Lueders looked on in silence during her hearing in Norwalk court.

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New Canaan Woman Charged with Animal Cruelty

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Fairfield police on Tuesday arrested a 31-year-old New Canaan woman by warrant and charged her with five counts of animal cruelty, two months after finding the remains of dogs in crates inside the Fairfield home where she had been residing. Heidi Lueders, now of Marshall Ridge Road, additionally was charged with first-degree criminal damage to a landlord’s property by a tenant, according to a press release issued by Fairfield Police Capt. Robert Kalamaras. 

Police launched an investigation on the afternoon of Nov. 14 after responding to a report of animal cruelty at 37 Prince St. in Fairfield. There, officers found “several animal carcasses, which are believed to be canine remains, in crates within the residence,” Kalmaras said in the release. 

“Fairfield Animal Control Officers and Detectives responded to the house to further investigate.