Case Details

Fire set to smoke-out baby raccoons
Bloomfield, NJ (US)

Date: Jun 19, 2003
Disposition: Convicted

Abuser/Suspect: Richard Gerace

Case Updates: 3 update(s) available

Case ID: 1557
Classification: Choking / Strangulation / Suffocation
Animal: raccoon
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A chimney cleaner faces animal cruelty charges after setting a fire to try to smoke three baby raccoons out of a chimney. Richard Gerace, 53, of Bloomfield, the owner of Brite Side chimney cleaning, was charged with three counts of animal cruelty. The charges came about after a resident in the Convent Mews housing complex called police at around 10:25 a.m. Thursday, seeking help for the animals, Officer Jim Osorio of the Morristown Humane Law Enforcement Division said.

"The chimney people started a fire to smoke them out," Osorio said. "When I got there, the three little guys were burnt pretty good. The chimney guy told me he'd done that before. But I told him, 'No, you just can't do that.' He was just tormenting and torturing the animals with that fire and smoke."

Osorio found the raccoons, all about 8 weeks old, trapped in the fireplace. Their paws were blackened and one had skin hanging from its nose and face, he said. The animals were taken to the Animal Clinic of Morris Plains.

Tracy Robinson, a veterinarian at the clinic, said she treated the wild raccoons with fluids and antibiotics. Two were in good condition, she said, with the third was more seriously burned. They will be held for observation for 48 hours, she said, and then placed back in the wild by a wildlife rehabilitator from the state Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife.

Morristown Humane Law Enforcement can be reached at (973) 538-1376 or at www.morristownhle.org

Case Updates

A chimney cleaner who set a fire to smoke out baby raccoons pled guilty to misdemeanor animal cruelty and was sentenced to 150 hours of community service and $1,166 in fines. Richard Gerace, 53, of Bloomfield, N.J., was originally charged with three counts of animal cruelty after a resident of a housing complex called police seeking help for the three 8-week old victims.

Witnesses said that the babies were trapped in a fireplace. Reportedly, Gerace said that he had set fires to smoke out raccoons in the past.

A grand jury declined to indict Gerace last year, yet charges were recently brought in Morristown Municipal Court, leading to the community service sentence and fines.
Source: ALDF - Feb 2, 2004
Update posted on Oct 24, 2005 - 10:41PM 
A grand jury in Morris County has failed to indict a chimney sweep accused of burning three baby raccoons with animal cruelty. As a result, officials served the Bloomfield resident with three counts of inflicting unnecessary cruelty upon animals. The disorderly person's offenses will be heard in municipal court in Morristown next month. The new charges carry a penalty of up to six months in jail and $1,000 fine.
 
State officials stated that the third raccoon with the severe burns that were sustained by a chimney sweep owner Richard Gerase of Bloomfield has died today
 

References

Morristown Humane Law Enforcement
Associated Press

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