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Weston Sets Aside $15,000 To Care For Birds Seized In Animal Cruelty Case

WESTON, CONN. -- Weston’s Board of Selectmen has voted to set aside $15,000 more for the care of dozens of exotic birds seized from a private home, according to The Weston Forum.

Workers remove exotic birds from a building at 82 Newtown Turnpike in Weston. The town is now in the process of appropriating money to care for the hundreds of animals seized in the September raid.

Workers remove exotic birds from a building at 82 Newtown Turnpike in Weston. The town is now in the process of appropriating money to care for the hundreds of animals seized in the September raid.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern
A parrot is brought out of a building at 82 Newtown Turnpike in Weston in September. Officials seized hundreds of birds and snakes — both dead and alive — at the address. The owner reportedly faces animal cruelty charges.

A parrot is brought out of a building at 82 Newtown Turnpike in Weston in September. Officials seized hundreds of birds and snakes — both dead and alive — at the address. The owner reportedly faces animal cruelty charges.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern

The money, which will go to a parrot rescue group, has to get the final nod from the town’s Board of Finance next month, The Weston Forum reported.

The two boards had appropriated $21,625 in October for the birds’ care, however, complications developed during negotiations with Rhode Island Parrot Rescue and the town is now seeking a written agreement, Weston’s animal control officer, Mark Harper, told The Weston Forum.

Hundreds of birds and snakes were rescued from a home at 82 Newtown Turnpike in September, multiple media reports said.

It was the worst case of animal hoarding that police could recall ever seeing, according to a previous report in the Daily Voice.

"We have never had anything of this nature to this extent," Weston Police Sgt. Pat Daubert told the Daily Voice. "We've had some hoarding issues (in the past)."

The home, identified by The Weston Forum as belonging to Daniel Kopulos, was raided after neighbors complained of smelling a foul odor.

According to a report by fox61.com, authorities found the animals living among piles of food, feces, trash and debris.

According to The Weston Forum, Kopulos has been charged with animal cruelty and is due in Norwalk Superior Court in January.

According to fox61.com, Kopulos is the executive director for the nonprofit Animal Preservation Alliance and owned Fauna NYC, a pet store in Manhattan’s Upper West Side that is now closed.

A Facebook page for Fauna NYC said Kopulos started a nonprofit organization called Animal Preservation Alliance "to further his efforts with conservation, education and rehabilitation/adoption programs" of animals, the Daily Voice reported.

If found guilty of the animal cruelty charge, Kopulos could get a year behind bars and be slapped with a $1,000 fine, the fox61.com story said.

To read The Weston Forum story, click here.

To read related Daily Voice reports, click here and here.

To read the fox61.com article, click here.

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