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Case #15663 Rating: 4.0 out of 5
Squirrel left in trap for over 24 hours, dies
Hazlet, NJ (US)Incident Date: Saturday, May 23, 2009
County: Monmouth
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Katherine Buck
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
The owner of a West Long Branch pest control company has been charged with four counts of animal cruelty after a squirrel was found dead in a rooftop trap.
Victor "Buddy" Amato, chief of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, charged Kathleen Buck, owner of Critter Ridder, after receiving a complaint about the dead animal at a professional complex at 25 Village Court.
Victor "Buddy" Amato, chief of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, charged Kathleen Buck, owner of Critter Ridder, after receiving a complaint about the dead animal at a professional complex at 25 Village Court.
According to Amato, the building's owners contracted with Critter Ridder to remove a squirrel from the area and a trap was set on the building's roof at about 1 p.m. Wednesday. No one returned to check the trap, he said, and a squirrel caught sometime that day "baked to death" by 5 p.m. Thursday.
"It just cooked to death on the hot roof," he said.
Buck will be forced to appear in court to answer the charges, which include citations for failing to provide adequate food, water and shelter for an animal. Amato said her fault lies in failing to comply with a state statute requiring traps to be checked every 24 hours.
Buck said she has been in business for 30 years and was unaware she had done anything wrong. She said in the past customers have always called when an animal is caught.
"It was a misunderstanding and now I'm paying the consequences," she said.
Case UpdatesThe owner of a local pest control company charged with four counts of animal cruelty in May was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine in municipal court today, according to the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Katherine Buck, owner of Critter Ridder, pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty, said SPCA Chief Victor "Buddy" Amato. Her company had been hired by the owners of a professional complex to get rid of a squirrel, Amato said, but failed to check on a trap for a period of more than 24 hours.
SPCA officers later found a squirrel in the trap "cooked to death," Amato said. | Source: Asbury Park Press - July 27, 2009
Update posted on Jul 29, 2009 - 1:38AM |
References« NJ State Animal Cruelty Map
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