Brooklyn Teen Charged in Hamster’s Death

A pet hamster’s death has spewed a firestorm that included a nine-month search for a suspect and pitted siblings against each other—and finally, led to an arrest on felony charges. According to reports, Theresa Smith’s 25-year-old son went into a rage and kicked his 9-year-old brother’s hamster across the room in June 2010. This enraged their sister, Monique Smith, 19, who then killed another hamster belonging to her younger brother as revenge. Theresa Smith said she “took it out of the cage and she slammed to the floor.” Her brother contacted the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and after the nine-month search, during which Monique Smith dodged authorities, she was charged Tuesday with felony cruelty to animals—a charge that carries up to two years in prison—and two misdemeanors, torturing animals and endangering the welfare of a child. The hamster died from blunt force trauma and liver damage.