Dracut man charged with animal cruelty in the death of his roommate’s dog

A 36-year-old Dracut man has been charged with animal cruelty in connection with the death of his roommate’s dog last year.

Last week, Anthony Segnini was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court, where he pleaded not guilty to an animal cruelty charge.

The charge stems from an alleged incident that occurred on December 11, 2023. Dracut Police he said Court records show officers responded to a home on Sunset Road for a report of possible animal cruelty after they returned home from work to find their dog Seamus, an 8-year-old Yorkshire Terrier, dead in his playpen. . The 8-pound dog was covered in a blanket, blood and feces. The woman allegedly found blood, urine and feces on the living room carpet and walls.

Prosecutors said the woman took the dog to Wignall Animal Hospital, where it was pronounced dead. An autopsy showed the dog died of severe blunt force trauma from a blow to the head and also suffered broken bones, a collapsed lung and other injuries from the deliberate and repeated blows, according to court documents.

According to prosecutors, Segnini allegedly told the woman – his roommate – that Seamus was unresponsive when he woke up for work and that he attempted to resuscitate the animal before covering him with a blanket and leaving. He allegedly gave a similar statement to investigators.

Segnini was later arrested. He was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury in September.

After his release following his arraignment on October 24, he was ordered to have no direct or indirect contact with his former roommate, have no unsupervised contact with an animal at his residence or own any animals.

He will return to court on November 21. Segnini’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.