A Waterbury man and woman are facing animal cruelty charges after police discovered 21 dead animals and 17 animals inside a trailer and an adjacent school bus.
Johann Delgado-Lopez, 37, and Courtney Beardsley, 26, have been charged with 31 counts of animal abuse.
This comes after police received an anonymous complaint on Tuesday that a woman was living in a trailer with multiple animals, both alive and dead, at Storage Rentals of America.
“That’s crazy, man,” Julius Bogues, who lives in Waterbury, said. “We ride by here and you never know what’s going on right around you every day, very bizarre.”
Authorities said when they got at the scene just before 5 p.m., they observed a “strong pungent” odor emanating from a 2006 Cedar Creek trailer.
According to police, Delgado-Lopez and the woman emerged from the trailer and allegedly informed cops that they had cats and dogs inside. They informed authorities that one dead dog was inside the trailer and numerous dead cats were underneath it, inside a blue tarp.
Delgado-Lopez told investigators that the animals supposedly belonged to the woman, and they did not have the funds to bury them. He also informed police that there were dead animals inside a school bus that they owned.
According to police, animal control discovered a pink cooler in the bus containing several deceased cats. According to police, they discovered one dead dog and twenty dead cats, as well as one living dog and sixteen cats.
The woman allegedly informed authorities that a virus killed or infected her animals. She also told officers she attempted to contact animal control about what to deal with the deceased animals, but they never responded.
According to court filings, Breadsley has a lengthy mental health history, and law enforcement is familiar with her. She was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital for assessment.
Waterbury forensics and the Waterbury Health Department are investigating.
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