The Wolcott police department in CT runs the local pound. After shelter workers and citizens complained that the animals were being mistreated by Joseph Ouimet, the town’s ACO, the police chief advised Mr. Ouimet that a camera was being installed at the facility. This is the point when a smart animal abuser would have thought, “Well all that previous abuse was a freebie but now I’ve got to find a new place to hurt pets so I don’t get caught.” Joseph Ouimet is not a smart animal abuser. He reportedly kept right on hurting pets at the pound and it’s all on video.
From May 5 to July 10, Mr. Ouimet allegedly failed to properly clean cages and bowls, sprayed caged dogs with the hose, used the cage doors to slam dogs repeatedly, and sprayed dogs in the face with a cleaning chemical. None of the video containing those actions has been publicly released but there is a snippet of the following:
In video released to Eyewitness news, you can see Ouimet taunting one of the dogs with food while feeding the other animals. Finally, he throws the food over the top of the cage and onto the dirty floor around the dog.
In July, the police chief and town attorney met with Mr. Ouimet to advise him they would be investigating what was seen on the video. He quit. Mr. Ouimet was arrested last week and charged with 4 counts of animal cruelty. He is due to appear in court on September 6.
Wolcott has since merged its pound with another town and it’s being run by someone new. The dogs reportedly harmed by Mr. Ouimet have been adopted.
(Thanks Clarice for the link.)
Thanks for sharing.. can’t wait to read the updates on this one
Oh, I hope it’s all made public so potential future employers can get a real appraisal of the kind of asshole…I mean, “person” they are considering.
How long did this abuse go on before they finally did something about it, I wonder?
That man has no business working with living beings in any capacity. I’m glad that they at least caught him on video (not the brightest light on the string, obviously, if he continued his abuse knowing there were cameras). AND I hope they have learned their lesson and keep the cameras turned on!
I wish they could all be punish! how many times I HAVE COMPLAINED and they have answered, this is fine, You do not know how is done, You are only a VOLUNTEER!
How do these Sociopaths get hired in the first place! Sure their cruel behavior has been evident before. He’s an ass who deserves a strict punishment! I just hope they give him what he deserves!
Actually … I’m not sure this is always true. Thing is, there are people who are cruel when they think they can get away with it, but restrain the desire when they’re likely to face consequences. ACC facilities strike me as likely places for this, possibly even bringing it out in people, as not only is there opportunity but common practice seems to be to give staff every possible – and sometimes impossible – benefit of the doubt, and insulate them from any potential repercussions.
I’m really impressed that he was actually held accountable, wish that would spread through the shelter world.
the cameras at MAS need to be turned back on…
I agree with Dot! MAS IS a hellhole and the facility needs to be watched and investigated again!
I’m not sure the police chief had much choice after receiving complaints of mistreatment both from workers AND the public, then telling the guy he was putting a camera in there (which is astonishing to me) then seeing the video that the guy kept hurting pets…