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.
