Woman accused of dumping cats in CT Walmart parking lot, fatally running over kitten

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

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

Officers were dispatched to a Walmart at 235 Queen St. in Southington on April 15 to assist with an animal complaint. Reports alleged that a person driving a vehicle, possibly a black Nissan Rogue, had dropped off a cat and an injured kitten in the parking lot, according to a release 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 alleged that they saw a woman open the rear of her SUV, remove two cats and placed them into the parking lot, according to Egan.

The witness told the officer the woman then got back into the vehicle and began to pull out of the parking space, allegedly striking one of the cats before exiting the parking lot, Egan said.

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

During an examination, police learned that the adult female cat had a compound fracture to its right hind leg with the bone protruding through the skin, which resulted in an amputation to the injured leg.

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

Video captured from the scene helped to identify the vehicle and captured details of the incident, including showing the woman allegedly reaching down and appearing to pick up and throw the kitten a short distance away from the vehicle after it followed her back to the car, according to Egan.

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

The vehicle was tracked down to a residence in New Britain where it was being driven by 65-year-old Ana Rodriguez of New Britain. According to Egan, Rodriguez initially denied being responsible for dumping the cats, then later allegedly admitted to leaving the cats in the parking lot with no food, water or shelter.

Rodriguez denied running the kitten over, Egan said.

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

“The investigation revealed Rodriguez intentionally released both cats in a busy retail parking lot during business hours with no food, water, shelter or regard 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 $2,500 bond and is scheduled to appear at New Britain Court on May 20, according to Egan.