Middle School Teacher Starves her Two Cats Because of Long Work Hours and Social Life

Investigators said the Congress Middle School teacher's cats clawed up the apartment in a frantic search for food as they starved for up to a month before they died. The corpses then rotted in the filthy apartment about a month before an apartment manager found them.
Prosecutors upped the charges to two counts of felony cruelty to animals, saying her actions caused "excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering." The new charges each carry a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison.


Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, said the agency would not elaborate on why the charges were upgraded.


Efforts to contact Allison Dinsmore, 26, on Monday were unsuccessful despite phone calls and messages to the number listed on the crime report. A phone message and an e-mail to her Miami-based attorney, Jordan Lewin, weren't returned.


Dinsmore told police in February that she had been working long hours at her school and spent a lot of time at her boyfriend's house. Police said she also went on a family camping trip while the cats starved.


She said she couldn't remember the last time she had been home, but thought she had left food and water for her cats.


Dinsmore is not teaching this week because schools are closed for Spring Break, school district spokeswoman Vickie Middlebrooks said. She couldn't say whether Dinsmore would be permitted to return to the Boynton Beach middle school when classes resume.
"The school district will open up a personnel investigation based on the state attorney's action," Middlebrooks said. "The district will examine all of the facts."
Dinsmore has worked at Congress Middle since August 2007 and has a clean employment record, according to the district. Her salary is listed as $36,100.


The two cats were found dead Feb. 23 by a manager at Boca Sol apartments. Police said Dinsmore hadn't paid rent, and a manger went to her home to talk to her and check out the apartment. The manager found the two dead cats, signs of a frenzied search for food and water, and feces and urine everywhere, according to police.
The smell was so bad, an officer had to cover his mouth with a rag when he first went inside, the report said.


A necropsy determined the cats suffered neglect for weeks or months before dying a slow, painful death from starvation and dehydration.

Why not drop this fine example of a human being a note at work:

dinsmore@palmbeach.k12.fl.us

I'm sure she'd love to hear from all of us.

Here's the email address of her principal (Kathy Harris) as well:

HarrisK@palmbeach.k12.fl.us

The internet has exploded with cat lovers and "cat lover" haters giving their two cents.  
Here's a guy who says cat lovers need to get a life and tells us to save our anger for human abuse.  Click here to read his rant.

Sources:
http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/15383/FL/US/RSS/



http://www.wptv.com/news/local/story/Teacher-arrested-for-starving-cats-to-death/cmw2gc4dSUi3O2mdT5VW2A.cspx



http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/03/31/0331cats.html?cxntlid=inform_sr

Ohio man who starved dogs, some to death, to be sentenced Jan 22.

Steven Croley, the owner of High Caliber K-9 boarding and training facility, entered a not guilty plea to animal cruelty charges. After police and humane agents found seven dead dogs, and eight starving dogs at his business earlier this week. 

"Bones, carcasses, decay, it was horrible, it was enough to make you gag and throw up and cry", says Nikole Owen, CEO of Animal Charity.

Twelve of the dogs are now recovering at Animal Charity on South Avenue, while agents try to track down the animal's owners to let them know if their pets are alive or dead.

Meanwhile, Croley's home and business on Coitsville-Hubbard Road has been hit by vandals. The words "killer" and "I kill dogs" spray painted across signs, cars and broken windows.

Croley told humane agents he couldn't afford to feed or take care of the dogs he was training and boarding, but Owen said she spoke with a couple of the dog's owners this week, and they say that's not the case.

"A woman saying that she gave him over four hundred dollars, and another woman paid him over four hundred dollars just last week. So he had money...what he did with it, I don't know, but he was not feeding the animals with it", says Owen.

Another question has to do with the charges. Croley was originally charged with nineteen counts of animal cruelty and neglect, but was arraigned on only four counts in court, and that has the folks at Animal Charity upset. Owen says,



Local prosecutors office:

Joseph "Jay" R. Macejko
4th floor city hall
26 south phelps street
Youngstown ohio 44503
PHONE: 330.742.8791
FAX: 330.742.8794

Judge Robert A. Douglas, Jr.
Youngstown Municipal Court
265 Phelps Street
Youngstown, Ohio 44503
PHONE: 330.742.8857
FAX: 330.742.8725

Email for the Judge's (Judge Robert A. Douglas, Jr.) assistant: lblum@turningpointcs.com

Contact info for the Ohio State Attorney General (Nancy H. Rogers):
PHONE: 877-244-6446
WEBSITE CONTACT FORM: http://www.ag4ohio.gov/Public/details.aspx?s=222


For more information, please visit pet-abuse.com. 

10 dogs neglected, emaciated, one found dead » Friday, Feb 29, 2008: sentencing

Incident Date: Monday, Sep 18, 2006
Friday, Feb 29, 2008: sentencing


Chenango County Court Case # 2006-92

Douglas Arthur Haslett: CONVICTED

A Chenango County man has been convicted of abusing his animals. Sheriff's deputies say Douglas Haslett had a number of dogs at his home that were not being fed and didn't have proper shelter.

Deputies, along with animal control officers, found nine emaciated dogs and took them to an animal hospital for treatment. Deputies also found a dead dog at Haslett's home. The dog died of starvation.

This is his sentencing, please contact the judge in this case and ask for harsh sentencing.

Chenango County Office Building
5 Court Street
Norwich, NY 13815

607-337-1825
Fax 607-337-1834
e-mail: cschell@courts.state.ny.us

Chenango County Judge
Hon. W. Howard Sullivan

Officers find skeleton of chained dog

Animal control officers found a dog skeleton chained to a concrete block and a dead puppy wrapped in a garbage bag at a condemned house in Decatur this week.

Animal Services Director Mindy Gilbert said officers rescued two other adult pit bull dogs and three puppies from 1302 Pisgah Road S.E. on Monday afternoon. The two adult dogs will probably be euthanized because of health problems, she said.

Gilbert said she didn’t know how long the animals had been abandoned, but their owner, 23-year-old Lakenya Elliott, will face criminal charges.

“This is somebody who abandoned the dogs there and knew they were there,” Gilbert said. “One of the dogs was the skeletal remains of an adult dog chained up in the backyard. ... It was pretty much a skeleton. There was very little left but bones.”

Gilbert said it’s possible the puppies had gnawed the remains of the dead dog.

“The other dead one was a puppy wrapped in a garbage bag sitting on the lawn,” she said.

Elliott signed the live animals over to the shelter, Gilbert said.

“The two adult dogs that we have are in pretty debilitated physical condition, which indicates to me that this is an ongoing situation,” Gilbert said. “Both tested positive for heart worms and intestinal parasites and are malnourished.”

Gilbert said she believed the puppies could be nursed to health.

All the dogs were found outside the residence. The owner left the adult animals tethered and the puppies running loose, Gilbert said.

“You know how cold it’s been lately,” she said. “One dog did have a barrel. There was a beat-up doghouse that had holes all around, so it wasn’t providing shelter. They were without food and water.”

Gilbert said that because Elliott cooperated in turning the animals over to authorities, she will be summoned to court for arraignment rather than arrested on warrants.

“I think they’re going to be looking at multiple charges,” she said.