FLORIDA -- 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 and water before dying."
(Sun Sentinel - March 23, 2009)
