City Woman Gets 2 Years Rehab Following Animal Cruelty Charges

A city woman facing three counts of animal cruelty stemming from the seizure of 24 neglected farm and domestic animals by officials in May 2011was granted two years of accelerated rehabilitation, according to the Meriden Record-Journal.

Maureen Kenney, 66, of Meriden was arrested on July 25, 2011, on three counts of animal cruelty, the R-J reports, after 10 horses, five rabbits, three dogs, two cats, two goats and a duck were confiscated from her Hanover Road home and Bilger Farm on Westfield Road.

A Hartford Courant article reported that two of Kenney's "horses were underweight, had skin problems and lost hair in clumps," said Raymond Conners, a Department of Agriculture spokesman. "One of them needed dental work and the other was infested with lice."

According to the state of Connecticut Judicial web site, accelerated rehab is a program that gives persons charged with a crime or motor vehicle violation for the first time a second chance. The person is placed on probation for up to two years. If probation is completed satisfactorily, the charges are dismissed.