Still No Plea in Animal Control Officer's Cruelty Case

Woodbridge Animal Control Officer Karen Lombardi has yet to enter a plea to an animal cruelty charge lodged against her early this month.

Lombardi, 59, of Milford, is accused of grabbing a “high-strung” small Terrier named Timone, picking him up and slamming him against a wall in November while trying to put a sweater on him, according to an arrest warrant affidavit on file at New Haven Superior Court.

“While doing so, she screamed at him ‘you hold still or I’ll smash your (expletive) skull in,” the affidavit states, citing two employees for the animal control department who shared the same story with police.

Lombardi, who is still working in the position while her court proceedings are ongoing, is accused of being “out of control” in the five-page affidavit. However, her attorney, Willie Dow of New Haven, told the New Haven Register that Lombardi will plead not guilty, and he questions the motives and timing of the accusations. He did not return a message from Patch seeking comment for this article.

Lombardi appeared at New Haven Superior Court on Friday but did not enter a plea. Her case was continued to May 16.

Part-time animal control employee Karen Myers lodged the original complaint to the Woodbridge Police Department on April 3. Myers told police Lombardi was “out of control.” To clarify her statement, she told a story from mid-November when Myers said she was trying to put a coat on the terrier, Timone, the report states. Lombardi intervened, “stating something to the effect of ‘I’ll show you how to do that,’” according to the affidavit.

After she picked up Timone, slammed him and yelled at him, Lombardi put the coat on him, the affidavit states.

“After this Timone held still and was trembling so Lombardi was able to put his coat on,” the affidavit states. “Lombardi then handed the dog back to Myers and stated ‘that’s how it’s done.’ ...Myers stated that the tone of voice used by Lombardi when yelling at Timone even frightened her.”

Myers and Animal Control Officer Paul Niedmann describe Lombardi as being verbally abusive toward them and as someone whom they “fear.” They said they were initially intimidated to bring forth a complaint against her.

Police said Niedmann told them that he also saw Lombardi shaking Timone during the same incident Myers described in November. He said he came forward because of his moral and ethical duties as an ACO, according to the affidavit. 

“He said that ACO Lombardi was shaking the dog in a manner that in his professional opinion as an ACO with 11 years experience constituted animal cruelty,” he told police.

Niedmann told police he remembers saying to Myers that, “What happened to that dog wasn’t right. The dog would be better off being put down than to be exposed to any more cruelty or potential cruelty,” according to the affidavit.

“He said that Myers stated to him that, ‘She (Lombardi) arrests people for animal cruelty and she is doing it herself,'” the affidavit states.

The New Haven Register reported that Niedmann’s union filed a grievance on his behalf claiming he was intimidated and harassed by the Woodbridge Police Department. When contacted by phone Friday, Niedmann told Patch he personally had nothing to do with the grievance and that the union made the decision to file it. He had no further comment.

The Woodbrige Animal Control Department is a regional animal control facility that oversees Woodbridge, Bethany, Orange and Derby.