Hartford — The state Appellate Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a former owner of a Fairfield dog rescue acquitted of killing five dogs in her care but sentenced to 15 months in prison for leaving the dogs' remains in the house she rented.

The appeals court upheld the May 2022 conviction of 36-year-old Heidi Lueders for first-degree criminal damage to property denying her arguments that there had been insufficient evidence to convict her of the crime and that the trial erroneously took into account the allegations on the charges she was acquitted of in convicting her of the crime.

"There was overwhelming evidence that the deceased dogs had been in the defendant's care, that they had perished two to ten months prior to being discovered in the home from which she ran a dog rescue, and much of the damage to the home, which the defendant was convicted of causing, resulted from the toxins that emanated from the dog's carcasses when they were left to rot," the appeals court stated. "Furthermore, the court expressly considered the defendant's actions after the verdict, which included bragging on social media about how she had been found innocent, which the court referenced during sentencing by emphasizing that the defendant had not been found innocent, but was, instead, found not guilty."

Attorney G. Kenneth Bernhard, the state's volunteer animal advocate, said he was pleased with the Appellate Court's decision.

"I thank the prosecutors, Judge (Peter) McShane and now the Appellate Court for confirming the fact that animal abuse and its consequences have to be taken seriously and will punish those who are guilty of gratuitous cruelty," he said.

Lueders' attorney Robert Serafinowicz declined to comment on the decision. Her appeals lawyer, Norman Pattis, did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Lueders, the former president of Bully Breed dog rescue, was accused of leaving five dogs to die in the Prince Street, Fairfield, home she rented in November 2018 from Celly Roberts. The remains of the dogs — skin and bones — were found in locked cages throughout the house.

But in February 2022, following a trial before the judge, McShane found Lueders not guilty of the animal counts and only guilty of the criminal damage charge after a medical expert testified that because of their deteriorated condition he couldn't say how the dogs died.

"You may be listening to this and think 'does this judge honestly believe or think these dogs died of natural causes,'" the judge said after announcing his verdict to the more than a dozen animal rights activists sobbing in the back of the courtroom. "It doesn't matter what I think, what matters is what the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt."

During Lueders' sentencing hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Felicia Valentino argued that Lueders destroyed Roberts' house when she left the five dogs there. She said because of the damage the house went into foreclosure and was sold at auction.

Valentino said Roberts was seeking more than $190,000 in restitution.

"She (Lueders) needs to be punished for her actions," the prosecutor said at the time.

Lueders at her sentencing tearfully blamed her heroin addiction for her actions.

"Heroin took over my entire life," she told McShane. "People have asked me what happened and I can't remember because I was on heroin. I'm sorry for everything that happened and I accept responsibility."

The judge refused a request by Serafinowicz not to consider the death of the dogs in sentencing her to the one charge he did convict Lueders of.

"The death of those innocent dogs does impact the case," McShane said. "The dogs that died were left to rot, left to decay in their cages and its horrific."

McShane continued he was also taking into consideration what Lueders did after he found her not guilty of the animal cruelty charges, going on social media and bragging about her acquittal.

"There was no acceptance of responsibility," he added.