Woman buys puppy, then learns of seller’s charges
NEW CANAAN — Maryellen Feeney was having Thanksgiving dinner when she was contacted about picking up a puppy she had purchased online.
She found the holiday timing odd, but met the seller at a rest area in Plymouth, Mass., and was given her new Shih Tzu, Sparkie.
When she got home, she decided to research the seller and discovered there was a pending arrest warrant for Catherine “Cassie” Palmer on animal cruelty charges in connection with the deaths of three dogs in her
New Canaan home.
New Canaan police said Palmer drove to various parts of New England over the Thanksgiving holiday selling a “vehicle full of puppies” before turning herself in on Nov. 29.
Feeney apparently received one of those puppies.
She said Sparkie seems to be doing fine, although he needed to be treated for Giardia, a parasite that can infect animals, according to the American Kennel Club.
“He’s running around, playing,” Feeney said.
Around Oct. 30, Feeney said she first contacted Palmer, who she said was advertising puppies on the website, PuppyFind.
Feeney said she communicated with Palmer a few more times, but feared she might not get the puppy.
“She told me she’d contact me the Monday of Thanksgiving week. Then I didn’t hear,” Feeney said. “I thought maybe it was a scam to get funds. Then she came through with the puppy.”
Feeney said she met Palmer on Thanksgiving at a rest area on Route 3 in Plymouth.
According to New Canaan police, Palmer made a series of deliveries around the holiday, including one in Massachusetts around midnight on Nov. 25.
The next day, the family needed to take the puppy to the emergency vet’s office on Thanksgiving, New Canaan Police Lt. Jason Ferraro said. The puppy was in critical condition and died, Ferraro said.
It was at least the fourth puppy in Palmer’s care that has died, police said.
Three other puppies were found dead in September in Palmer’s Butler Lane home that she has rented out to tenants in New Canaan, police said.
Palmer, who lives in Greenwich, has been charged with three counts of animal cruelty in connection with the puppy deaths. She is free on $ 10,000 bond and is fighting a petition from the Town of New Canaan to take permanent custody of 12 dogs that were seized on Nov. 17 from the Butler Lane home.
A Superior Court judge this week granted the town temporary custody of the dozen dogs.
During a civil court hearing regarding the town’s petition last week, Palmer denied neglecting the three dogs that died. A second hearing is scheduled for Dec. 18.