It turned out the drama had just begun. When police found the puppies in the cooler and their mother in a motel room at 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning, they didn’t know that two more pregnant dogs were about to give birth. They had been hidden in a locked bathroom.
They are all related: There is Cali, the 10-year-old Black Lab and the mother to two sisters, Jazz and Chewy, both tan and white and 7 years old. In all 15 pups would be born to the three females within hours of each other in the same motel room. One died at the New Haven Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine, where police took the pups and their mom on Dec. 24. One was born there as well.
Animal Control officer Laura Burban and police officer Phil Ramey discovered the two other mixed-breed dogs and their newborn puppies when they returned to the motel on Dec. 26 for a scheduled appointment with the owner. Their purpose was to ask him to sign over ownership of the first dog and her puppies to the Daniel Cosgrove Animal Center. He agreed.
Police say they are now drawing up an arrest warrant for the man who took the puppies from their mother, put them in a cooler and sought to abandon them. He and the owner of the dogs share a room at the motel. Police are also investigating the actions of the long-term owner and the unusual set of circumstances that led three aging dogs to deliver litters within hours of each other. The charges center on animal cruelty.
Burban told the Eagle she was stunned to find that there were in fact two more female dogs and that they, too, had recently given birth. She and Ramey found them locked in the bathroom. “They were nursing when we found them,” she said.
Officials first thought that the mother of the eight puppies was named Jazz. That is because her collar identified her as Jazz. It turned out the collar belonged to her sister, Chewy. It was Chewy whose puppies were discovered in the cooler. Jazz had only one puppy. And Cali, the oldest, gave birth to five puppies.
Dogs are not permitted in the motel. Those close to the case speculate that the two men who occupied the motel room may have decided to abandon the first set of puppies because they had heard the cleaning staff learned of the births. There was a threat to evict them. The two men also knew what the police did not know until two days later: They had two other pregnant dogs to handle.
In an interview Burban said that when she and Ramey came upon two more females dogs with pups in the bathroom, she decided to contact Todd Curry, the state animal control officer who serves the Branford district.
“They wanted to keep these dogs,” she said. “But there was no food or water in sight for them. No empties. And the dogs are underweight for moms.”
It is also just as likely that the owner removed evidence of food and water bowls knowing he had hidden the other two dogs in the bathroom before the police came to visit.
In the end, the owner reluctantly signed over custody of all three dogs and their puppies to the shelter.
Lt. Geoffrey Morgan said: “Based upon the totality of the circumstances, including the inability of the owner to care for the dogs, ACO Burban, State ACO Curry along with the assistance of Branford Police removed the two adult dogs and six additional puppies from the motel.”
Cali, Chewy and Jazz are in separate pens next to each other at the shelter. In their week at the shelter, Burban said she saw evidence that two of Chewy’s eight pups had become listless. Burban decided to let Jazz nurse them since Jazz had only one pup. They are now doing well.
“In the end we really don’t know which puppies belong to which dog, but they all seem to be thriving, “Burban said.
The shelter is accepting donations to help care for these dogs and the other animals in their care. Donations can be made to: Branford Animal Shelter, 749 East Main St.
Branford, CT 06405.
The owner calls the shelter daily to find out how his dogs are doing. He misses them.