Winsted woman in animal cruelty case fails to return dog that triggered investigation

CT INSIDER | By Brigitte Ruthman,Staff Writer | July 28, 2025 | WINSTED — Animal rights advocate and rescue rehabilitator Michele Walsh said she took the ferry from New York with a box of "Old Mother Hubbard" dog treats in her bag hoping that somehow the dog she once turned over to Sarah Smolak for care would show up to a court-appointed date behind the Winsted Police Department Monday.

It didn't happen as Walsh had hoped.

Neither the dog whose whereabouts started an animal cruelty investigation, Marshmallow, nor Smolak, the Winsted woman facing 40 charges of animal cruelty, were at the police station by 1 p.m., an hour after an appointed drop off time. A small group of animal rights activists wearing "Where is Marshmallow" T-shirts stood in parking lot with their attorney, Jonathan Levitan.

Smolak's Norwalk attorney, James Saraceni, could not immediately be reached for comment.

But soon after, Saraceni filed a motion in Superior Court to reargue the case. His motion did not make it clear if Marshmallow remains in his client's care. In his motion, Saraceni objected to the wording in the judge's order that claimed "the defendant is wrongfully detaining the property."

Specifically, Saraceni said Winsted police who entered Smolak's Winsted home on March 18 with a search and seizure warrant did not find  Marshmallow among the dogs seized.

"Not one sentence, word, or syllable of evidence was offered to allege that Sarah Smolak has dominion and control of Marshmellow," Saraceni's motion state. "There is no evidence before the Court that Ms. Smolak has dominion and control of the dog known as Marshmellow and as such cannot comply with the Court's order."

It's not clear what sanctions might be imposed for Smolak failing to meet a judge's civil judgement, or whether Saraceni's motion will be considered as it was filed after the deadline to turn over the dog.

"We are very disappointed she did not return Marshmellow given the judge's order to do so and we hope the judge understands this is a direct violatation of his order," Walsh said.

Showing up, Levitan said, would have been a lot better than not showing up even if without the missing and beloved dog. 

Walsh said she checked with dozens of area veterinarians to determine whether any of them might have treated a young white pitbull named Marshmallow, who was found abandoned and injured in a Brooklyn, N.Y. parking lot on Jan. 13, 2023. He was suffering from traumatic injuries to his head and was delivered for rehabilitation and veterinary care to AMA Animal Rescue, said Walsh, a member of the organization's board of directors. He was rehabilitated and turned over to Smolak, then living in Norwalk, on Dec. 10, 2024, for foster care.

Smolak signed a foster agreement, Walsh said. Smolak, through her attorney in court proceedings, denied that she entered into any written contract and claimed the dog was ill.

Torrington Superior Court Judge Brian Preleski, however, said the contract which governed Marshmallow's care was valid.

In a decision issued earlier this month, Preleski noted that a contractual agreement for Smolak did not include ownership and required her to return the dog to the rescue group "upon demand." She received $300 as a month fee to care for the dog, according to documents.

When AMA sought the return of the dog in February, Smolak asserted her privilege against self-incrimination when asked to describe the circumstances under which she no longer possessed the dog, according to the judge's order.

During a welfare check for Marshmallow on March 21, Smolak, who by then was living in Winsted, told a Winsted police officer that a representative of AMA already had picked him up, according to the decision. "The court does not credit the claim," Preleski's order states.

Additionally, the judge noted that Smolak earlier had claimed that Marshmallow had suffered from cancer and required surgery, though no proof of the claim was offered.

Smolak faces 40 counts of animal abuse related to 40 dogs in her care and was named in a civil forfeiture that sought to sever ownership rights to 21 dogs removed from her Winsted home and placed in shelters. On May 30, Smolak relinquished rights of ownership to 10 of the 21 dogs. The remaining dogs are in foster care, Walsh said.

The search for Marshmallow triggered what would become one of the most extensive alleged cases of animal cruelty cases in the Northwest Corner. The investigation grew to 38 counts of animal cruelty.