Cats starve to death in apartment, teacher charged
Boca Raton, FL (US)Incident Date: Monday, Feb 23, 2009
County: Palm Beach
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Acquitted
Person of Interest: Allison Dinsmore
Case Updates: 5 update(s) available
Two cats starved to death in a schoolteacher's apartment because, between work and her social life, she just didn't have time for them, police said.
The black and brown, tiger-patterned domestic cats had names and traits, but by the time police found them Feb. 23 at a Boca Sol apartment, they were dead.
The findings: They were trapped in the home of Congress Middle School special education teacher Allison Dinsmore without enough food and water for up to a month. They died a painful death, officials said, caused by dehydration and starvation.
Police accused Dinsmore, 26, of cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor, though she has not been officially charged. Police could not arrest her, Officer Sandra Boonenberg said, because "misdemeanors must occur in the officer's presence or be a 'misdemeanor exception,' which animal cruelty/neglect is not." The State Attorney's Office will decide whether to charge Dinsmore.
"The apartment was completely upside down," said Tina Alma, assistant manager. "They brought the ceiling down. These cats went crazy looking for food."
Case UpdatesA former middle school teacher broke into tears in West Palm Beach courtroom Thursday, when a jury returned verdicts in her animal abuse trial. After deliberating for five hours, jurors found Allison Dinsmore not guilty of both counts of felony cruelty to animals.
Dinsmore, who taught special needs students at Congress Middle School in Boynton Beach, potentially faced up to 5 years in prison on each count.
Dinsmore had testified an ex-boyfriend stalked her and was sometimes violent. So she avoided her Boca Raton apartment.
Eventually Dinsmore said her life became so "consumed" with fear and school, she lost track of time and stopped feeding the animals. A necropsy showed the cats could have been dead for a few weeks.
After the not-guilty verdicts, the former teacher's father, Robert Dinsmore, blasted the State Attorney's Office, School District, and media. He promised lawsuits against them all.
"It is because of you that these people in the State Attorney's Office felt the necessity to prosecute my daughter as a felon," said Robert Dinsmore, addressing reporters outside the courtroom. "I will never forget it. And this is not over."
Asked if Allison bore responsibility for the cats deaths, Mr. Dinsmore replied, "Of course she does. It's very, very unfortunate."
But he said his daughter was placed in a circumstance where her life was in danger, and she was abused to the point she couldn't think straight.
"It has taken us a year to get to a point where she can function again,' said Mr. Dinsmore. "It's going to take an additional year because of this trial."
Following the hearing, lawyers scurried Dinsmore out a side door, to avoid the media.
The lead prosecutor on the case, Assistant State Attorney Phil Wiseberg, said, "While we don't necessarily agree with their verdict, I can definitely respect what jurors did." | Source: CBS 12 - April 1, 2010
Update posted on Apr 26, 2010 - 1:52AM |
A former special-education teacher at Congress Middle School faces two felony convictions of animal cruelty which could carry up to a 20 year prison sentence. Today in a court of law Allison Dinsmore tried to explain why she left her cats starve to death.
In February, 2009, the apartment manager found the two decomposing animal corpses after Dinsmore failed to pay rent. The cats were left unattended for weeks. One cat was found under the entertainment center, and the other cat was found in a kitchen cabinet. They had been starved, and according to documented court records, the animals died excruciatingly painful deaths. Photographs of the scene showed empty food bags and bowls. It appeared as if the cats had been clawing everywhere looking for food and water.
After three days of trial, Dinsmore took the stand today. Her defense attorney Jordan Lewin stated Dinsmore had been trying to escape an "abusive situation." Her apartment was referred to as a " zone of danger." She testified that she was afraid of an old boyfriend, but she never called the police because she was afraid he would retaliate. She never told her family because she was too embarrassed.
Instead Dinsmore, who stated she thought she left the cats food and water, went to stay with her new boyfriend in Greenacres and forgot about the cats because of stress and depression.
" I didn't realize I was gone that long," Dinsmore told the Palm Beach County jury. She explained her life was one of fear and was consumed with school.
The defense contends that Dinsmore never intended for her cats to die.
Assistant State Attorney Phil Wiseberg told Dinsmore that she could have asked for help. He contends she had " other reasonable remedies " available to keep the cats from starving. " You could have asked someone for help," Wiseberg stated. " It was a choice you made not to go back to that house, and the cats are dead because of your choice."
The State contends that Dinsmore made a conscious choice not to return to her apartment, and that led to the death of the cats.
Closing arguments are expected tomorrow, and then the jury will decide the fate of Dinsmore | Source: Examiner.com - Apr 1, 2010
Update posted on Apr 5, 2010 - 1:22PM |
A court date has been set for August 20, 2009, at the Palm Beach County Circuit Court's Main Branch:
205 North Dixie Highway
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Phone: 561-355-2431
Case #502009CF004107A
Police initially accused Allison Dinsmore, 26, of misdemeanor animal cruelty when her two cats' wasted corpses were found in her Boca Raton apartment.
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. | Source: Case #502009CF004107A
Update posted on Jun 24, 2009 - 3:49PM |
A blast of angry e-mails and phone calls to Palm Beach County school officials this week demanded: Don't allow teacher Allison Dinsmore on campus when classes resume Monday after Spring Break.
But school district officials said Thursday that Dinsmore, free on felony animal cruelty charges, is still assigned to her job at Congress Middle School in Boynton Beach. She's accused of letting her two cats starve to death in a Boca Raton apartment.
Dinsmore, 26, will report to work as long as she hasn't been suspended, her attorney, Jordan Lewin, said Thursday.
District spokeswoman Vickie Middlebrooks said school police are investigating the allegations against Dinsmore, who was hired in August 2007.
The district has a practice of reassigning teachers under investigation for various crimes �" whether they happen on campus or not �" to jobs that have no contact with students. In some cases, teachers are permitted to remain in the classroom during investigations.
Middlebrooks said she could not comment on Dinsmore's case, which has brought a number of public complaints.
"I just wanted to send this to say I certainly hope that you will not let this woman back in to teach our children," Kathy Berenotto, of North Palm Beach, wrote in an e-mail Tuesday to School Board members. "She is not the type of role model our children should be dealing with at all."
Dinsmore, who is listed with a Miami address, is accused of letting her cats die in her Boca Raton apartment while she told police she was working and spending time with her boyfriend and family.
Boca Raton police investigators said her cats clawed up the apartment in a frantic search for food and starved for up to a month before they died. The two cats were found dead Feb. 23 by a manager who went to the Boca Sol apartment because Dinsmore had not paid her rent.
On Monday the State Attorney's Office upgraded the charges against Dinsmore from misdemeanors to felonies because her actions caused "excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering."
If convicted, Dinsmore faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count. She was released from the Palm Beach County Jail early Wednesday after posting a $4,500 bond.
Dinsmore is a victim herself, her lawyer wrote in a statement Wednesday.
"Allison was the victim of an abusive situation in which her former apartment presented a zone of danger that was real and significant," Lewin wrote. He did not explain the nature of the danger.
"The miscommunication and errors that led to the unfortunate demise of her pets was a terrible tragedy," Lewin wrote, adding that Dinsmore is "a person of the highest moral character." | Source: Sun-Sentinel - April 3, 2009
Update posted on Apr 4, 2009 - 5:39PM |
Two cats suffered so cruelly before dying, prosecutors say, that they decided to charge a Palm Beach County teacher with two felonies Monday.
Police initially accused Allison Dinsmore, 26, of misdemeanor animal cruelty this month when her two cats' wasted corpses were found in her Boca Raton apartment.
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 Dinsmore 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. | Source: Sun Sentinel - March 31, 2009
Update posted on Mar 31, 2009 - 10:07PM |
References |
