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: Alleged
Alleged: Allison Dinsmore
Case Updates: 3 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 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 |
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