Spencer couple charged with extreme animal cruelty, accused of stompking kittens to death

MASSACHUSETTS -- A couple allegedly starved to death three kittens that were infested with fleas, the boyfriend kept their carcasses in a freezer, and he was reported to have stomped to death two other kittens from the litter, according to a police report.

Tracey L. Chasmine, 48, of 60 Pleasant St., Apt. 4, pleaded not guilty to a charge of animal cruelty Friday in Western Worcester District Court in East Brookfield.

An arrest warrant has been issued for John R. Sherman Jr., 71, of 12 North Brookfield Road, on a charge of animal cruelty, according to the court clerk’s office.

Judge Maura McCarthy ordered Ms. Chasmine released on personal recognizance and to surrender all animals. She was also forbidden to have any contact with the co-defendant and to take all of her prescribed medications. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Jan. 19.

According to the police report, a woman told police Oct. 16 that Mr. Sherman had killed five newborn kittens.

The woman alleged that Ms. Chasmine had told her Mr. Sherman killed two of them by stomping on them and he had the three remaining kittens in a freezer in his home.

Spencer Animal Control went to Mr. Sherman’s house later that day and took the frozen carcasses, police said.

Police said they tried to speak with Ms. Chasmine on Oct. 20, the first of four attempts to contact her through Oct. 26.

That same day, police contacted the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Boston and arranged for Officer Christine Allenberg to meet with police concerning the case.
Officer Allenberg and police went to Mr. Sherman’s house. They said he was uncooperative and hostile.

Mr. Sherman told the investigators that one of his cats had a litter of kittens in July, but two of them had died several days after they were born from an attack by an unknown animal, the report said. Mr. Sherman said the remaining three kittens died several days later from unknown causes. He refused to discuss the matter further, police said.

When Officer Allenberg and police contacted Ms. Chasmine, she told them two kittens died from an attack by an animal, but that she had not witnessed the attack. Ms. Chasmine said the remaining three kittens had been abandoned by their mother and were in poor health and infested with fleas, according to the report. Ms. Chasmine said they contacted animal control, and the agency gave them a flea comb and flea spray.

On Oct. 27, investigators obtained the frozen bodies from animal control and took them to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Grafton. Tufts’ report said the kittens died because they lacked proper nutrition, combined with intestinal cestodes and anemia, which led to organ collapse. There was no evidence of trauma or infectious disease.

Tuft's preliminary autopsy said that the cats had anemia and suffered from starvation and flea infestation.

Police then requested a court hearing for Mr. Sherman and Ms. Chasmine seeking a charge of animal cruelty.

In an interview, Police Sgt. Norman L. Hodgerney Jr. said police are not alleging Mr. Sherman stomped the two kittens, whose bodies were never located. Sgt. Hodgerney said police were unable to confirm the validity of the woman's initial claim.

(Worcester Telegram - Nov 13, 2015)