TOLLAND, Conn. (WTNH) — Tolland Town Manager Brian Foley has shared more information about a “significant” police operation on Saturday which resulted in at least 50 people being charged with animal cruelty.

According to Foley, a criminal investigation operation involving Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut Department of Agriculture took place on Saturday in connection to an alleged large-scale “cockfighting” event at a secluded quarry off Mountain Spring Road that has been inactive for more than a decade.

A “significant number of arrests” took place on Saturday and at least 50 people were charged with animal cruelty. Hundreds of birds were found by investigators and “significant evidence” was recovered, according to Foley.

“While this type of event is shocking, yesterday’s operation demonstrated clearly that the Town of Tolland is not the place to attempt this type of criminal activity. Our law enforcement partners made that abundantly clear,” he said. “Animal cruelty of this type or any kind will never be tolerated in the Town of Tolland.”

This is a developing story, stay with News 8 for updates

One person is dead after a car crash in New Haven on Saturday.

The crash occurred at the 600 block of Woodward Avenue, according to New Haven Police.

Police said the car crashed into a tree.

No other information has been released.

Most people could have torn it down,” Al Ravitz says of the 1929 country house he shares with his wife, Sue Ravitz. The property, which sits on three and a half acres in Wilton, Connecticut, had been owned for more than five decades by the president of a regional hosta society who was mostly preoccupied with the landscaping. “The house was in really bad shape inside,” Sue says.

The couple—he a painter and psychiatrist, she a self-taught fiber artist who has shown with the gallerist ­Patrick Parrish—own a studio apartment in Tudor City. They saw the derelict fixer-upper as a weekend home where they could host their grandchildren.

A year or two into their renovations, they cleared out the area above the garage, which had been divided into four small bedrooms. They made it one great room that Al uses as an office and studio. Their contractor created a wood structure to support the cathedral ceiling, which was finished with plaster by professional church restorers.

“They would bring little spray bottles of water and then smooth it with their hands. It was spectacular watching them,” Al recalls. “We have photos of the material underneath. It’s incredible.”

The Ravitzes, who spent 30 years in ­Chicago, where Al was on the faculty at the University of Chicago, met in the 1970s at a disco in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where Sue grew up. Al was already a hobbyist buyer of Maxfield Parrish prints, beat-up old oriental rugs, and velvet ­Victorian furniture, and collecting soon became a joint effort.

“We really didn’t know anything,” says Al. “The bigger, the louder, the better. That was our philosophy then.” Later, they came to appreciate conceptual art. “We’re interested in things that are reductive and in the way that objects interact with one another or evoke a sensation that can’t be characterized verbally.”

Sue’s own practice came late in life. “I was always doing handiwork, and when the kids left for college, I started obsessively knitting little squares, doing these color combinations,” she says. “And then I did blankets and rugs.”

Her pieces are scattered around the home, where their furniture adheres to a pared-down modernist aesthetic. “We just want to find stuff that nobody else has,” says Sue, who adds that Al has more than 400 alerts on auction sites. One of them recently turned up a chair by the Dutch company Droog for $1,500. “Not everything has to look the same,” Al says. “But it has to feel the same.”

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The Library The stained glass is original. The light is by Castiglioni. The wall sculpture is by Jesse Hickman. The paintings on the top shelf are by Al, and the throws are by Sue. The large artwork above the Otto Zapf daybed is by Alain Biltereyst.
Photo: Annie Schlechter

The Living Room The artwork above the Theo Ruth sofa is by David Schell. The painting behind the Sarah Burns armchair is by John Dilg. The side table is by Erwine and Estelle Laverne. The chandelier is by Castiglioni. The piece above the stairs and the two rugs are by Sue.
Photo: Annie Schlechter

The Sitting Area The painting above the 19th-century Dutch chair is by Elise Ferguson. The storage is by Otto Zapf. The wall light is by Kristen Wentrcek and Andrew Zebulon, and the painting to its right is by Stacy Fisher. The circular painting is by Edward Movitz. The painted weaving on the wall in the background is by Sky Glabush. The rug below it is by Sue, who curates the Ravitzes’ gallery near Bryant Park, 57W57 Arts.
Photo: Annie Schlechter

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The Kitchen The red cabinets are original. “The real estate agent said, ‘Everyone hates this kitchen. You’re going to change it, aren’t you?’ We thought it was so cool,” Al says. The dice chairs are unattributed and the artwork above the windows is by Celeste Fichter.
Photo: Annie Schlechter

The Bathroom The penny tile was added during the Ravitzes’ renovation. The artwork on the right is by Al and the pink piece is by Letitia Quesenberry.
Photo: Annie Schlechter

The Primary Bedroom The artworks are (from left) by Gwenn Thomas, Martí Cormand, Al, and John Dilg is over the bed. The bed is flanked by Dutch midcentury wall lights. The table next to the Chris Rucker chairs is by Roy McMakin.
Photo: Annie Schlechter

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The Landscaping “When we bought it there was nothing but hostas,” Sue says. “We must have some very rare specimen hostas.” The pool was already in place.
Photo: Annie Schlechter