Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Connecticut: Witnesses recount previous attacks by Plainfield residents' dogs

CONNECTICUT -- Dogs accused of attacking and mauling a Canterbury woman in 2014 had a history of aggressive behavior, according to witness statements in newly released court documents.

An affidavit for Plainfield resident Jenna Allen, 29, details a police investigation into the Dec. 3 dog attack that scarred Canterbury resident Lynne Denning.

Allen, along with her boyfriend, Corey Beakey, both of 379 Putnam Road, were charged earlier this month in connection with the attack.



After a brief appearance Monday in Danielson Superior Court, their cases were continued until Nov. 3rd.

In the aftermath of the attack, police spoke with nearly a dozen people about Allen's dogs, which witnesses said had previously attacked a puppy and injured another home health care worker, according to court documents.

One of the Rottweilers from Jenna and Richard Allens' home in
Plainfield. A home health care worker was mauled in December
by multiple dogs in the Allens home. The Department of Agriculture
 is holding a hearing Wednesday to determine the fate of two
of the dogs from the home. Bulletin file photo

On the day of the attack, police said they found Denning, who was caring for Allen's grandmother in her capacity as a home health care worker, with "severe lacerations to her face," along with lumps of hair and flesh scattered on the floor.

Denning later told police she could remember one of the six dogs present, Phoenix, biting her in the face, though she said other dogs took part in the attack.

"Officers also discovered flesh and tissue (at the attack scene), which appeared to be the victim's nose laying on the ground," according to the affidavit.


The day after the attack, Plainfield police ordered all six dogs in the house — five Rottweilers owned by Jenna Allen and a Labrador retriever owned by her father, Richard Allen — to be euthanized, saying it was impossible to know which of the dogs had attacked Denning.

Four of the dogs were recently released to the Allens after police said they could only prove two of the animals, Phoenix and Malaki, took part in the attack.

The state Department of Agriculture will resume a hearing on Thursday to decide whether to uphold a euthanasia order for the two quarantined dogs set by the Plainfield Animal Control office. The order has been appealed by the Allens.


A home health care worker who worked for the Allens in 2012 told investigators she saw two of Jenna Allen's dogs, likely Phoenix and Malaki, attack a puppy also living at the residence.

"It looked like (the dogs) were trying to tear the puppy apart," according to the witness statement.

"There were other instances while I was at the Allens' house that made me feel uncomfortable around the dogs. I eventually asked to be transferred to another client."

Plainfield Animal Control told police it responded on Oct. 25, 2011, to a report of two Rottweilers owned by Allen who were "scaring a man with kids." The office responded to several other complaints involving Allen's dogs in 2012, according to the affidavit.

Allen is charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, two counts of possession of a nuisance dog and five counts of failure to comply with dog license requirements. She is free on a $10,000 bond.

 

Beakey, described by police as Allen's boyfriend and someone who had control of the dogs at the time of the attack, was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment. He was also released on a $10,000 bond.

Another witness told police while working as a home health aide for the Allens in 2013, one of the family's dogs jumped onto her back, ripping out a piercing, while another animal "lunged at my face," according to the affidavit.

"Another dog broke through a screen door trying to get me, but I kicked it in the face," the witness told police. "I never returned to the Allens'."

(Norwich Bulletin - Sept 28, 2015)

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