It’s a short story, but we’re compulsively re-reading a report by Andy Newman on the arrest (by the ASPCA) of a little boy’s big sister. Monique Smith killed his hamster. ‘Monique picked up the biggest of the three hamsters, Sweetie, “took it out of the cage, and she slammed it on the floor,” Theresa Smith said. “It died on impact.”’ Okay, her bad. It’s what follows that’s strange.

This was on June 7, 2010. Tuesday night at 7, after a nine-month hunt for a suspect they described as evasive and uncooperative, law enforcement agents from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals arrested Monique Smith, 19, along Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick.

She was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals — a felony that carries a sentence of up to two years in prison — along with two misdemeanors, torturing animals and endangering the welfare of a child.

“Evasive and uncooperative”? “Nine-month hunt”? Nurse!

Drop me a line at rjk@dailyblague.com
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 10th, 2011 at 10:30 am.