Bridgeport woman accused of 'egregious act of animal cruelty' in beating death of dog
Police reports from Nyisha Squeglia's arrest said officers responded to her home in the East End on Oct. 7 after a call about a brutally beaten dog found dead in the yard.
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A Bridgeport woman is accused of what an officer called "an egregious act of animal cruelty" in the violent death of her dog. Nyisha Squeglia briefly appeared in Bridgeport Superior Court on Wednesday where the judge appointed attorney Joyce Glass as the animal advocate in the case under Desmond's Law.
"This law allows attorneys to act in the interest of justice and also be a voice for the animals," Glass told News 12 after court. "We are permitted to speak in the court and be part of the resolution."
Police reports from Squeglia's arrest said officers responded to her home in the East End on Oct. 7 after a call about a brutally beaten dog found dead in the yard.
According to the reports, police reviewed videos from a neighbor's security camera that showed Squeglia "maliciously and intentionally killed her dog." One report said, "The beating, kicking, whipping, slamming, dragging, and swinging of the animal by the neck were all acts of prolonged torture and violence that culminated in the death of this dog." The report also said Squeglia used different objects to injure the animal "to cause a maximum amount of harm" and continued the attack even when the dog "appears limp and lifeless." The report concluded, "The dog endured over 15 minutes of terror, torture, violence, and pain before finally dying."
When an officer questioned Squeglia, she "appeared unaffected and gave short, unemotional responses," one report stated. It said she implied her actions on the video were the result of an incident when the dog attacked her child. The officer was shown a small scratch on the child's nose about 1 centimeter in length that "did not appear consistent with a dog bite wound," that report said.
Another report stated that Squeglia told a different officer that she was upset that the dog scratched her child and had to kill it. "Nyesha stated that she just 'snapped' and killed it," the report said. The officer of that report also noted that the child's injury was already scabbed and not fresh.
Squeglia was charged with felony cruelty to animals and released on $5,000 bond. She was also recently arrested on a charge of violation of probation. Court records show she received probation last year after pleading guilty to fourth-degree larceny and third-degree forgery in a case from 2019. She's due back in court on both pending charges on Dec. 11.
