WOLCOTT, Conn. — A man accused of abandoning a dog after it had given birth and selling the puppies prematurely appeared in court for the first time on Thursday.
According to Wolcott police, on April 16, the mother dog named Mya was found abandoned on Spindle Hill Road after just giving birth, but her litter of puppies was nowhere in sight.
Jose Solivan appeared in Waterbury Superior Court after turning himself into Wolcott police. He is being charged with cruelty to animals and making a false statement. He was released on a promise to appear but has been ordered not to own or care for any animals.
Outside of court, Solivan's family was adamant that "he is innocent," and someone else dumped Mya, but police say Mya and her puppies belonged to Solivan.
When the Wolcott Police Department received a call about Mya last month and rescued her, they found that she had just given birth. Police and the animal control officer immediately started searching for the devastated mother’s puppies.
“Not only do they need their mother, but their mother needs them; she has to feed them, so it was a terrible situation," said Wolcott Police Chief Edward Stephens.
The babies were taken from Mya at just eight days old.
Wolcott Animal Control turned to the public for help in finding her babies, and they were able to recover five of the seven puppies from the litter.
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Mya and her pups have been recovering at the Wolcott dog pound, where she has been able to care for them as they grow.
"This is a great success story. We would have liked to have gotten all seven back, but we did get five of the seven back, and they are healthy," said Stephens.
The puppies will be up for adoption in about 2 weeks.
Solivan is expected to appear back in court on June 20. Police said he will soon be facing more charges from police in Waterbury, where the puppies were allegedly sold.
Alexa Farrell is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at afarrell@fox61.com.
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