DAC Board Member Admits She Took Cat

As of Monday, Stephen Sappo says he has heard no news yet where his cat is, but he insists he is not giving up.

“I just want the cat back,” Sappo said.

Meanwhile, Patch has obtained a copy of the police incident report which clearly states that the woman whom Sappo says took his cat, Cheryl Lipson, District Animal Control Board member and one of the founders of AARF (Amity Animal Rescue Fund) admits to having taken the cat. In a Patch interview last Friday Lipson said, "I did not steal an animal, and if he [Sappo] said I stole him it's slander. I'll leave it at that."

In the report, Lipson said she took the cat and brought him to a veterinarian and stated that the cat would have died had she not done so.

Copies of the bills Lipson provided to Woodbridge police dated from Jan. 25 to Feb. 15 show only ordinary treatments were performed such as vaccines, worming and blood work, as well as some more extraordinary care such as a teeth cleaning for $288. An area vet viewed the list of procedures done and confirmed there was no evidence of any life-threatening situations.

In the police report, Officer Timothy McGinnis stated that he told Lipson she had to return the cat, whose name is Copper, however Lipson had refused to do so. While McGuinnis said in the report that he was going to apply for an arrest warrant, the police department later decided the catnapping was a civil matter.

Assistant Chief Ray Stewart said there were issues that were unclear, including what to do about the vet bills, the fact that it was almost a month before Sappo called the police, and there was insufficient proof of Sappo’s ownership of the cat. Stewart said Sappo had no vet bills or paperwork that would verify his ownership. He also said it wasn’t clear if Lipson’s intent was to steal the cat or to just get it treatment. “We would have to prove intent,” Stewart said.

“She spent about $600 treating the cat,” Stewart said. “She did say she would return the cat if he paid for the vet bills.”

Sappo, however, feels he did not authorize the vet visits and that the cat was taken illegally. And while he did not go to the police immediately, he said he made several calls to Lipson asking for the cat back during that time, and he said her response was to berate him personally and reinforce that she would never return it to him.

While Woodbridge pet law may be murky, state law regarding theft of a companion animal is clearer. Barbara Godejohn from the Animal Control Office of the Department of Agriculture said the CT state code Sec. 22-351 reads that anyone who steals a companion animal is subject to a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment of up to six months. Also according to that statute the perpetrator can be liable to the injured party in a civil suit.

“You don’t need vet bills or documentation to prove ownership,” Godejohn said. “Something as simple as pictures of the animal will do; no one takes pictures of other people’s cats.”

Godejohn described a case from Naugatuck in which a neighbor took a pair of kittens that wandered into her yard and decided she would be a better owner than her neighbors were. Eventually, the children of the original family saw the kittens in the window of the neighbor’s house and the parents demanded them back. The woman declined, and even hired a lawyer and cited expenses she had put into the kittens as the first owners had not done any vet work. In the end, however, Godejohn said if the woman did not return the kittens, she would have arrested her. The kittens were returned.

Another similar case involved a Yorkshire terrier stolen from Bridgeport. The woman who took it later said she had given it to a rescue, would not disclose where, and said she would not return it.
“I did have to arrest her to get the dog back,” Godejohn said.

Sappo remains hopeful, and still believes he may get his pet back. Although weeks have passed, Copper’s cat house still sits at the top of the driveway, filled with soft fleece blankets.

“I just want the cat back,” he repeats. “I will drop everything and walk away as long as I get my cat back.”