BENNINGTON — A Shaftsbury man was in court on Monday for violating a condition of release – to not possess any more animals – stemming from a prior animal abuse case.
Allan Washburn, 82, of Shaftsbury, was arraigned on one count of violating his condition of release stemming from a still-pending animal abuse case in which he is charged with two counts of keeping his dog – a 5-year-old Siberian husky – locked in a vehicle filled with garbage and clutter with the windows rolled up in the Bennington Walmart parking lot, in both April and June 2022.
Washburn answered for now having a cat in his vehicle.
Bennington Police Department responded on Dec. 7 to a report of a cat locked inside a parked vehicle at the Price Chopper parking lot on Northside Drive in Bennington. Responding officers immediately identified the vehicle as Washburn’s, a blue 2002 Saturn with Connecticut plates – the same vehicle that Washburn is accused of keeping the Siberian husky locked in during the 2022 incidents. According to an affidavit, the car was still “completely cluttered inside and filled with trash nearly to the ceiling.”
Forfeiture of Siberian husky at stake during Bennington hearing
When police located Washburn inside Price Chopper, he claimed not to know he was banned from keeping a pet.
Washburn was arrested on the scene and taken to the Bennington Police Department, where he was cited to appear for Monday’s arraignment. He was released on his own recognizance.
The condition of the cat, or its location after removal, is unclear.
A Bennington judge previously ordered Washburn in his conditions of release not to own, possess, or care for any animals after his animal abuse arrest in June 2022.
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In August 2023, Washburn was required to permanently forfeit his dog and pay restitution for the animal's care after a judge found that Chad, the husky, was neglected and treated with cruelty. It was determined that the dog was left in a hot car full of trash and miscellaneous belongings in the two 2022 incidents, with just one window rolled down two inches and without water, food, or room to move.
Washburn appealed that forfeiture to the Vermont Supreme Court. A decision is still pending. The husky was adopted soon after the forfeiture decision.
Washburn is currently facing a year of imprisonment on each of the two counts of animal cruelty stemming from both incidents. The case is currently on hold until a psychological evaluation is completed.
In April 2022, after being alerted by several women to a dog inside a parked car with no air conditioning, police approached the vehicle to find the husky – Chad – sitting in the car, surrounded by rotting garbage. According to the affidavit, the dog did not seem to be in “major distress” at the time, so police allowed Washburn to drive off after witnessing the dog drinking milk.
Later that spring, police found Washburn’s 2002 Saturn vehicle “piled with trash,” according to an affidavit. The temperature inside the car was estimated to be 109 degrees. The dog was found “panting, with no water, curled on the vehicle’s passenger seat and lying on top of piles of trash, old meat, spoiled milk, and expired fruit.”
Washburn was estimated to be in Walmart for an hour. Police confiscated the dog after the second incident. He was housed at the Second Chance Animal Center in Arlington, where he was described as underweight and having difficulty walking because of atrophied legs. Shelter officials said the dog fully recovered prior to his adoption.
