A 28-year-old Winchester woman is facing more animal cruelty charges after her initial arrest in an investigation which resulted in dozens of dogs being seized.
Winchester Police Chief Chris Ciuci said the investigation started in February after complaints of neglect and missing animals.
Officers went to an address on Strong Terrace last month and served two arrest warrants on Smolak, according to authorities.
Ciuci said they have been working with the state Department of Agriculture, local animal controls and law enforcement in New York to bring charges.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
The state prosecutor said the 24 dogs seized in March were living in deplorable conditions, and four of them were listed in critical condition.
“The electric collar that had been placed around their neck were so tight, the tightness of the collar caused the skin to effectively meld into the collar, causing serious injury,” a state prosecutor said in court last month.
Smolak’s defense attorney said she has been working with dog rescues and deals with critical care dogs regularly.
Local
Court documents say she allegedly took in dogs, claiming she would care for them, but police say they found something different entirely.
“The two cases in question, they found mistreated animals, malnourished, neglected, sores, things of that nature,” Ciuci said.
The defense pushed back against the allegations, noting Smolak’s willingness to take in critical animals.
Police said Smolak turned herself in to police Thursday evening. She had two warrants for her arrest.
One of the warrants charged Smolak with 34 counts of animal cruelty and the other warrant charged her with two more counts of cruelty to animals, according to police.
She posted a combined $35,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on April 24.
