CT woman faces charges for allegedly lying to police after dog from MA dies in her care

A Connecticut woman is facing criminal charges, accused of lying to police after a dog from Massachusetts died in her care.

The dog's owner said his bulldog never returned from the woman who was supposed to train his dog.

“He was really the sweetest dog in the world," Bart Hanson said.

Hanson loved his dog dearly. His 3-and-a-half-year-old bulldog Charlie was given to a woman who advertised dog training services in Massachusetts on the website Thumbtack.

“He never really learned basic commands like come and sit,” he said.

Hanson said Charlie was supposed to be trained for two weeks and then returned, but that never happened, so he called the police.

Police in North Reading, Mass. say Charlie died while under the woman’s care, who sent photos to Hanson during that time.

“She was sending me these pictures and text updates after he was dead for like a week,” Hanson said.

In a criminal complaint obtained by NBC Connecticut, the woman admitted to police Charlie did die and was hit by a car and buried at her Haddam home. 

Officers believed she was lying, and the dog’s body was found in Norwich instead.

“We found him dumped on the side of the road," Hanson said.

We knocked on the door at the address listed for the woman. There was no answer other than dogs barking inside. She is accused of stealing more than $1,200 and obstruction of justice/witness interference. Both charges are felonies.

“I’m outraged at what appears to be the amount of lies. I’m disgusted," said Zilla Cannamela, the president of Desmond's Army.

Desmond's Army is an animal law advocate group that wants to see animal cruelty charges eventually filed against her.

“When you starve a dog to that point, and she didn’t have the dog very long, so it had to not have sustenance for the entire time,” she said.

Police found four other dogs at the Haddam home and returned them to their owners. Police in Massachusetts say the investigation into this case remains ongoing and more charges could be filed.