The former owner of a New York pet store has been charged with animal cruelty nearly a month after state and local officials removed 224 animals from his Weston, Connecticut home, where they were found in deplorable conditions, Weston police said.
Westport police and animal control responded to a home on Newtown Turnpike on Sept. 15 after receiving reports of a foul odor and found snakes, birds, turtles and tortoises in the home, as well as in a building next door, police said. Many of the animals were already dead by the time police arrived.
Police said they determined that Daniel Kopulos, of Weston, owned the property and the animals and had a pet business, police said. In September, police said they believed the animals came from his former business, a pet store in New York that is now closed.
Police obtained a warrant charging Kopulos with cruelty to animals and he turned himself in to police and is due in court on Oct. 24.
