Man Charged With Animal Cruelty In Middletown: Police

MIDDLETOWN, CT — A Middletown man faces an animal cruelty charge after police say he left his 16-year-old arthritic dog outside on a cold, rainy day. Middletown’s Animal Control officer found the dog, “ill and unable to move,” tied outside in a backyard last Wednesday (Nov. 22) on Prospect Street, according to the police report. It was a cold, rainy day and the dog was laying in the mud, “drenched and cold,” the report states.

Police say the owner, Greg Swift, knowingly left the dog outside in the elements after he was “advised not to tie her outside, unattended,” according to the report.

The report states that Swift, 44, told police that he didn’t allow the dog to remain inside the house because she was incontinent and he didn’t want to clean up any accidents.

The dog was taken to Pieper Memorial Hospital and examined by the attending ER veterinarian who considered it animal cruelty to leave “Sassy” tied outside in the cold and rain due to her advanced age and arthritic condition, according to the report.

Swift was issued a misdemeanor summons for animal cruelty and released on a promise to appear in court on Dec. 7.

Image via Shutterstock