Teenage girl faces two years in jail for killing her brother's hamster

A teenager allegedly took revenge on her brother by killing his hamster during a family argument. Monique Smith, 19, slammed his pet to the ground in front of her horrified family in Brooklyn, New York, last summer, after he killed her hamster, officials said. She allegedly took out her rage on the helpless creature after hearing that her brother had killed hers by kicking an exercise ball in which it was playing last June.

Her brother called animal protection officers after she threw the bleeding 4oz unnamed adult female across the street outside their home, authorities said. The Humane Law Enforcement Unit of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) came to the scene and recovered the pet. Vets at the Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital found the hamster had suffered blunt force trauma, liver damage and a haemorrhage.



Smith, who has been pregnant and had a baby since the alleged incident, was arrested on Tuesday by the ASPCA. ‘I did not like the hamsters but I didn't want them to get killed,’ mother Theresa Smith, 47, said. ‘I just want her back to care for her baby.’

She was charged with one count of misdemeanour animal cruelty, felony animal cruelty and three counts of endangering a child’s welfare. ‘Pets are precious to people,’ ASPCA assistant director Joseph Pentangelo said. ‘Unfortunately sometimes when people want to lash out, they direct their anger to a treasured pet.' Smith could face up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted.