Woman allegedly dumped injured cats in CT Walmart parking lot

A New Britain woman is facing animal cruelty charges after she allegedly dumped injured cats and ran over one in the Walmart parking lot in Southington, police said.

Ana Rodriguez, 65, of New Britain, is charged with two counts of cruelty to animals.

On April 15, officers were dispatched to a Walmart at 235 Queen St. in Southington to assist with an animal complaint. Reports claimed that a person driving a vehicle, possibly a black Nissan Rogue, dropped off a cat and an injured kitten in the parking lot, according to a statement from Lt. Keith Egan of the Southington Police Department.

Southington animal control officers located the cats in the parking lot and discovered a dead kitten, Egan said.

A witness claimed they saw a woman open the back of her SUV, take out two cats and place them in the parking lot, Egan said.

The witness told the officer that the woman then got back into the vehicle and began driving out of the parking lot, allegedly hitting one of the cats before leaving the parking lot, Egan said.

According to Egan, the witness provided a description of the vehicle and the female driver.

During an investigation, police discovered that the adult cat had a compound fracture of the right hind leg, with the bone protruding through the skin, resulting in an amputation of the injured leg.

An X-ray of the dead kitten concluded the cause of death was consistent with being run over by a car, Egan said.

Video footage taken at the scene helped identify the vehicle and captured details of the incident, including showing the woman reportedly reaching down and appearing to pick up the kitten a short distance from the vehicle and take it away after it followed her back to the car, Egan said.

“After closing the door, the suspect makes several slow attempts to drive away, stopping to check the location of the kitten before moving forward again and running over the kitten and then slowly driving away,” Egan said.

The vehicle was tracked to a home in New Britain, where it was driven by 65-year-old Ana Rodriguez of New Britain. According to Egan, Rodriguez initially denied being responsible for dumping the cats, but later admitted to leaving the cats in the parking lot without food, water or shelter.

Rodriguez denied running over the kitten, Egan said.

Although veterinarians were unable to determine how the adult cat was injured, they determined it was a recent injury, possibly from being run over by a car, Egan said.

“The investigation revealed that Rodriguez intentionally released both cats into a busy parking lot during business hours, without food, water, shelter or consideration for their health and safety, resulting in the death of a kitten and the neglect of a serious bodily injury to a second cat,” Egan said.

An arrest warrant was issued charging Rodriguez with two counts of animal cruelty. On May 3, she turned herself in to Southington police. She was processed and released on a court-set bond of $2,500. She will appear in New Britain Court on May 20, according to Egan.