Kitten placed in homemade marijuana bong - Lincoln, NE

Sunday, Mar 1, 2009

County: Lancaster

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 2 files available

Defendants/Suspects:
» Acea Schomaker
» Marissa Vieux - Alleged

Case Updates: 5 update(s) available

A man who tried to cool out his hyper cat by stuffing her into a boxlike homemade bong faces cruelty charges.

Lancaster County sheriff's deputies responding to a domestic disturbance call Sunday alleged they saw 20-year-old Acea Schomaker smoking marijuana through a piece of garden hose attached to a duct-taped, plastic glass box in which the cat had been stuffed.

"This cat was just dazed," Sgt. Andy Stebbing said. "She was on the front seat of the cop car, wrapped in a blanket, and never moved all the way to the humane society."

Schomaker told deputies 6-month-old Shadow was hyper and he was trying to calm her down. The contraption she had been stuffed inside was 12 inches by 6 inches. Shadow was timid but in good condition Monday at the Capital Humane Society, executive director Bob Downey said.

"What the human mind doesn't invent, huh?" Downey said.

Schomaker was cited for misdemeanor animal cruelty and paid a $400 fine. He also faces drug charges. He did not immediately respond to phone messages left Monday seeking comment.

Case Updates

Acea Schomaker, the Nebraska man who was cited in March for placing a cat in a makeshift marijuana bong, pleaded guilty Monday to animal cruelty charges in the incident. Schomaker, who recently turned 21, also pleaded guilty to charges of marijuana possession and being in possession of alcohol while he was still a minor, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. Schomaker originally pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges in April and has said his intention was not to harm the cat, a six-month-old female named Shadow, but rather to calm her. Shadow, he said, had behavioral problems that included biting and scratching people. After hearing stories of animals being calmed when humans blew marijuana smoke in their faces, he decided to do them one better and placed her inside the smoking device. One of the sheriff's deputies involved in the case said Shadow was shaking when she was removed from the device and that part of her body appeared to be covered in urine and feces. The cat was taken to a Lincoln, Neb., animal shelter, where she was reportedly in good condition after the effects of the marijuana wore off. Schomaker will return to court Sept. 18 for sentencing; he could face up to a year in jail, according to the Journal Star.

Source: LA Times - July 28, 2009 Update posted on Jul 29, 2009 - 3:24AM

Instead of being judged by his peers, the case of the Lincoln man accused of smoking marijuana while his kitten was inside the bong will be decided by a judge. Twenty-one-year-old Acea Shomaker requested a bench trial set to begin July 29th in Lancaster County on charges of animal cruely, drug possession and fraud. Police say he admitted to putting the cat in the bong last March, claiming he was trying to calm it down. Schomaker's girlfriend, Melissa Vieux, is also charged in the case.

Source: WOWT - July 13, 2009 Update posted on Jul 14, 2009 - 12:23AM

The Lancaster County Sheriff's Department has issued another citation of animal abuse in the case of the kitten placed inside a marijuana pipe. Twenty-year-old Acea Schomaker of Lincoln was arrested Sunday for drug charges and animal abuse . He told deputies the 6-month-old female named Shadow had been hyper so he put the cat inside the homemade bong's 12-inch by six-inch base in an effort to calm her down. Monday, Schomaker's girlfriend Marissa Vieux was cited for animal cruelty/abuse. Chief Deputy Bill Jarrett said Vieux watched Schomaker put the cat into the device and smoke and never stopped him. Jarrett said the pair admitted to putting the cat inside the bong several times. Schomaker told The Associated Press on Tuesday he's giving up marijuana because he can't afford to fight legal battles and needs to get on with his life. Schomaker said he knows what he did was wrong. The Capital Humane Society says Shadow is in a legal hold and won't be put up for adoption until proceedings against the couple are completed. Shadow has damage to her lungs, probably from smoke inhalation. Another X-ray will be performed by a vet in two weeks. If damage remains or the cat's condition worsens, charges may be added or amended.

Source: WOWT - March 3, 2009 Update posted on Jul 14, 2009 - 12:22AM

A Lincoln man pleads not guilty to putting his hyper kitten into a bong. At the time, he told deputies he was trying to calm it down. Acea Schomaker is charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and animal cruelty. He was arrested at his Lincoln home back in March. Deputies say not only did he stuff the six-month-old kitten into the bong, but he smoked marijuana with the kitten inside. His girlfriend, Marissa Vieux, is also charged in the case. Investigators say she watched the incident take place and did not stop it. Schomaker is due back in court April 20th.

Source: WOWT - April 8, 2009 Update posted on Apr 8, 2009 - 3:03PM

The Lincoln, Neb., man who was cited for misdemeanor animal cruelty after stuffing a cat inside a homemade bong says he never meant to harm the animal, named Shadow. Acea Schomaker, 20, says he put the 6-month-old cat in the makeshift bong three times to calm it. His girlfriend, Marissa Vieux, 22, says she adopted Shadow two months ago from friends who had abused her. Schomaker alleges that Shadow had behavioral problems and would bite and scratch. Reluctant to use disciplinary methods like swatting at her and loath to drop her at an animal shelter for fear she'd be euthanized, he resorted to his unorthodox method for relaxing the feline. The Associated Press reports: So Schomaker said he decided to use the makeshift bong because he had heard about people calming their pets by blowing marijuana smoke in their faces. "I know for sure this isn't the first time someone has done this," he said. "I'm just the first one to get caught." ... "Every time we took her out she would pretty much just lay down and proceed to clean herself and act like a stoned person," Schomaker said. Shadow is reportedly in good condition at the Capitol Humane Society in Lincoln.

Source: LA Times - March 5, 2009 Update posted on Mar 7, 2009 - 9:34PM

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