The town has a surplus of cats at its animal shelter at Fairfield Hills and is seeking homes for the animals with residents who want to acquire some feline friends.

As an incentive, the town is waiving fees that would normally be charged people who adopt cats from the shelter, said police Sergeant Aaron Bahamonde, who oversees animal control for the police department.

The surge in cats at the shelter stems from the state Department of Agriculture’s (DOAG) June seizure of multiple animals, including more than 30 cats and two dogs, in an animal cruelty case at a Town’s End Road property. The animals were living in a poorly ventilated area heavily contaminated by urine and feces.

Town Animal Control Officer Carolee Mason said people interested in adopting a cat can visit the shelter at 21 Old Farm Road from 11 am to 4 pm on Mondays through Fridays. The shelter’s telephone number is 203-426-6900.

 Sgt Bahamonde noted that the animal shelter is designed to hold eight cats, so when the cats arrived from the Town’s End Road seizure, space at the shelter needed to be converted for use by those cats.

The sergeant said October 20, the shelter houses about 34 cats, of which 26 cats are from the seizure.

Arrest On Warrant

In a related matter, on the afternoon of October 14, Aristedes “Steve” Gabriel, 54, went to the police station after learning that police held a warrant for his arrest.

Police charged Gabriel with ten separate counts of cruelty to animals in connection with the keeping of animals at his 40 Town’s End Road residence.

Police released Gabriel on $10,000 bail for an October 29 arraignment on the charges in Danbury Superior Court.

On October 7, police arrested a Darien woman on a warrant, charging her with three separate counts of cruelty to animals in the same case.

Police charged Patricia Twells Whitehead, 60, at the police station. Ms Whitehead posted $10,000 bail. She is scheduled to be arraigned on October 29.

On June 22, the DOAG seized nine horses that were found to be malnourished and living in unhealthy conditions at the Town’s End Road property. Town’s End Road is a long dead-end dirt road that extends westward from Eden Hill Road.

The seizure came after a DOAG investigation into complaints about the horses’ health and living conditions, including inadequate food, water, and shelter.

The horses, ranging in age from 4 to 27, were removed under a search-and-seizure warrant signed by a Danbury Superior Court judge. They were transported to the agriculture department’s Second Chance large-animal rehabilitation facility in Niantic.

Seven of the horses are owned by Gabriel and two horses are owned by Whitehead, according to a DOAG statement.

After the animal seizure, DOAG animal-control officers pursued criminal charges of animal cruelty against Gabriel and Whitehead through arrest warrants.