Cat Abandoned In Pet Carrier At Hudson Valley Lake, Investigation Leads To Connecticut

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — A suspect has been arrested in connection to a multi-state investigation after a cat was found abandoned inside a pet carrier in a wooded area.

The Putnam County SPCA announced the arrest of a 57-year-old Danbury woman.

On June 11, the agency received a report from a good Samaritan that a cat was found abandoned inside a plastic cat carrier on Old Milltown Road in the Town of Southeast, near a wooded area not far from the East Branch Reservoir.

The three-year-old male cat was brought to the Putnam Humane Society in Carmel, and Putnam County SPCA detectives began a criminal investigation. The agency posted an Information Wanted poster to social media. Detectives, acting on a tip, then obtained surveillance footage from a Connecticut store, and used the video to zero in on a suspect.

Investigators went to Danbury, Connecticut, to interview the suspect, who say confessed to Putnam County SPCA detectives

On Sunday, the Putnam County SPCA Law Enforcement Division arrested the Danbury resident, on charges of animal cruelty and animal abandonment.

"The Putnam County SPCA would like to thank the good Samaritans who found the cat, the tipster, the assistance of the Connecticut business, the Westchester County Police Department-Putnam Real Time Crime Center, the Putnam County Department of Social Services, and the Putnam Humane Society," officials said in a statement.