Animal 411

Animal Cruelty: Guilty Plea, Suspended Prison Sentence for Man in Whose Care New Canaan Dog Died

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The Darien man charged with animal cruelty after a golden retriever died while in the care of his pet boarding business entered a guilty plea Friday and was given a suspended jail sentence and put on probation for two years. Terry Burns, 44, was also fined and agreed to donate $1,000 to a Humane Society. Part of the conditions of his probation are to not work in any job with animals or with the treatment or care of animals. He also will be evaluated by a psychiatrist or psychologist. The father of two young children apologized in court to the New Canaan woman who owned the retriever.

Animal 411

‘My Sweet Girl Was Truly Special’: New Canaan Woman’s Statement on Puppy Killed in Darien Man’s Care Added to Animal Cruelty Case

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A New Canaan woman in a forceful statement on her experience last summer of learning that her 13-month-old puppy had died in the care of a Darien man found by police to be operating an non-registered kennel is pushing for justice officials to deny him a form of parole. Mimi Gammill in a statement submitted to prosecutors in the case of Terry Burns, owner of the now-shuttered Terry’s House of Pets, requests that he be denied “accelerated rehabilitation” or ‘AR’ in order to send a message “there are severe consequences” for mistreating animals. “My heart is broken after losing my Betsy but Mr. Burns’ crimes are much bigger than just her death and the consequences he must face should reflect that,” Gammill wrote in her statement, published in full below. Burns appeared in state Superior Court in Stamford on Friday in connection with an animal cruelty charge brought by Darien Police in October. His case, statutorily sealed since he applied for AR, was continued to March 9.

Animal 411

Man Charged with Animal Cruelty Following New Canaan Dog’s Death Seeks a Form of Parole

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The Darien owner of a now-shuttered, unlicensed pet boarding business—in whose care a New Canaan golden retriever died this summer from what veterinarians call extreme heat exposure—is seeking a form of parole. An attorney representing Terry Burns, 44, charged Oct. 6 with animal cruelty, said during a hearing in state Superior Court in Stamford Thursday that his client is applying for “accelerated rehabilitation.”

It isn’t clear whether prosecutors and police with object to the application, how long an approved ‘AR’ would last or what its terms would be. Judge John Blawie told the state’s attorney and Burns’s lawyer, criminal defense attorney Matthew Maddox, that the Darien man wouldn’t be allowed to have any pets as part of a possible future set of conditions, and that Animal Control officials would be notified of that stipulation. The case was continued to Jan.

Animal 411

Court Documents: After New Canaan Dog Died in His Care, Darien Man Lied to Animal’s Owner, Veterinarians and Police

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Dogs boarded at Terry’s House of Pets in Darien were often kept locked in a motor vehicle while the business’s owner ran errands, were forced to compete for food tossed onto an unsanitary garage floor—in a room that was not climate controlled—and the animals never were let outside for fresh air or exercise, according to court documents. When a young golden retriever died in his care in July—likely from exposure to extreme heat—the owner of the Hoyt Street business, Terry Burns, appears to have lied to the dog’s New Canaan owner as well as to emergency veterinary workers and police, according to an arrest warrant application from Darien Police Officer Richard Flood. Though Burns told the staff at Norwalk’s VCA Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center that the dog, Betsy, had “collapsed suddenly after playing outdoors,” that “did not make sense,” according to the testimony of vets cited by Flood in his application, signed by Stamford Superior Court Judge John Blawie. “Evidence indicates this golden retriever died of heat stroke, some time before arriving deceased at the emergency hospital,” it said. Burns, 44, who lives at the 259 Hoyt St.