DOG LEFT TO SLOW DEATH
Heartless Christine
Abrams allegedly starved
her beautiful German
shepherd Ella to death —
because she was moving and her
new roommate didn't like dogs!
"She knowingly left her in a cage
for two months without food or
water and let her die an agonizing,
lingering death," outraged detective
Barbara Matthews
of the Cocoa
(Fla.) Police Department
told The ENQUIRER.
"It's a heinous crime and
Abrams deserves
to be punished to
the fullest extent
of the law."
Police were
alerted by a former
neighbor who
peeked through
a window of
Abrams' former
residence and was
horrified to see the
2-year-old white
German shepherd
lying dead in the
cage.
When police
tracked down Abrams, 29, she
told officers she moved out of the
house around New Year's because
her water had been cut off. She
admitted to intentionally leaving
Ella behind.
Incredibly, police found a large
bag of dog food
placed just a few
feet from the
locked cage!
"All Abrams had
to do was leave the
cage door open
with some water
— or even let the
dog out the front
door to wander
the streets," said
Matthews.
"Eventually
someone would
have contacted us
or Animal Control
would have picked her up."
Police originally charged
Abrams with
one count of felony
cruelty, which
is punishable by up
to five years in prison
and a $5,000 fine,
but incredibly, prosecutors in
the case reduced the charge to a
first-degree misdemeanor — which
carries a penalty of only one year
in jail and a $1,000 fine!
Chief Assistant State Attorney
Wayne Holmes said the reduced
charges take into account the
unclear wording of laws set
by the state legislature.
He encouraged
residents to contact
their state representatives
and lobby for tougher laws
that would make all animal
cruelty a felony.
Published on: 05/28/2008
