Owner of former Connecticut dog training, boarding facility pleads guilty to animal cruelty

The owner of a former Connecticut dog training and boarding facility has received a six-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to animal cruelty, court records show.

In addition, Thomas Hunt Jr., of Naugatuck, received a year of probation, records show.

Hunt pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of animal cruelty at Superior Court in New Haven, court records show. He was originally charged with two counts of animal cruelty.

His attorney, Sally Pruitt, did not return a call for comment.

An arrest warrant affidavit in the case states the cruelty relates to alleged extreme weight loss of two dogs that was discovered by Woodbridge Regional Animal Control after the same two dogs in Hunt’s care “mauled and killed” a mini-schnauzer, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Hunt, 56, was charged with two counts of animal cruelty at his former Eagle K-9 Academy facility, 809 Carrington Road, Bethany, records show.

In addition to the criminal charges, the state Animal Control inspections in the last year have cited alleged safety and sanitary violations at Eagle K-9 Academy.

The condition of the Cane Corso dogs — one called “emaciated” in the warrant affidavit — was brought to the attention of Woodbridge Regional Animal Control after Hunt reported by phone on April 8 that the dogs had “mauled and killed” the mini schnauzer.

Hunt told animal control the attack occurred after an employee “failed to secure a latch,” according to a warrant authored by Animal Control Officer Karen Lombardi.

The Cane Corso dogs that attacked — one a male, one a female — were brought to the Woodbridge animal control facility for quarantine and were found to be “extremely underweight,” the warrant affidavit states.

Lombardi wrote in the warrant affidavit: “It is through my training and expertise that I know that it is a training tactic to deprive food to the animal in an attempt to use food as a reward.”

The warrant documents the weight concerns in detail.

The 4-year-old maleweighed 87.3 pounds, while veterinary paperwork showed that about two months earlier it weighed 130 pounds, according to the warrant.

The other, a three-year-old female, weighed 88.7 pounds, and records from two months earlier showed she weighed 98 pounds, according to the warrant.

The warrant states that on April 12, Lombardi, along with state Animal control Officer Charles DellaRocco interviewed the owner of the dogs, a North Haven man who told them he dropped the dogs off for boarding because he was going through a divorce and needed a place for them while going through the transition.

The owner told animal control officers that he dropped the dogs off in December 2021 in “good health,” but now they looked “malnourished and skin and bones,” the warrant states.

On April 12, the dogs were taken to Animal Clinic of Milford, and examined by a veterinarian who confirmed the dogs were underweight, with Moose’s “spine and ribs” prominent on a visual exam, according to the warrant affidavit.

Hunt told investigators he was feeding the dogs “six cups of food a day,” the warrant states.

Soon after the investigation was underway the facility on Carrington Road was renamed, Perfection with Affection K-9 Academy. The status of the new business following Hunt’s conviction could not be determined.

The “team” at Perfection with Affection is listed as Thomas Hunt Sr., “a certified master trainer and graduated from the U.S. K9 Academy around 30 years ago,” as well as Thomas Hunt Jr., described as, “a certified master trainer and began training dogs at a young age. He is a graduate of the U.S. K9 Academy. Thomas Jr. also served four years in the United States Marine Corps.”

A message From Thomas Hunt Jr. on the website states: “When you say a dog is a man’s best friend, that is our ultimate goal. Seeing the transformation from a wild puppy to a well-behaved and happy dog is amazing and what keeps us going here.”

In the last year Eagle K-9 Academy received at least one warning from the state’s Department of Animal Control Unit following inspection, and inspections showed alleged violations, according to records obtained through the Freedom of Information act.

Alleged violations have included: feces and urine in the runs and kennels, a puddle of urine in the lobby, no mechanical ventilation, inadequate drainage, old fencing with no top, extremely dirty fan and ceiling, lack of repairs that could cause injury, mouse feces near a kitchen sink area. One report stated that five of nine dogs were not up to date with rabies shots and eight of nine didn’t have licenses.