A teenage brute was busted for killing her family’s beloved pet hamster, ASPCA officials said.
Monique Smith, 19, was charged with animal cruelty and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child for the torture killing
of a hamster in front of her horrified siblings inside her Brooklyn home on June 7.
Smith allegedly got into an argument with a family member before taking her rage out on the fist-sized critter.
The hot-tempered teen violently choked the tiny animal and chucked it on the floor. But as if that wasn’t enough torment, she then made a mad dash outside and hurled it across the street.
Her father contacted the ASPCA and a necropsy later determined the hamster sustained blunt force trauma, hemorrhaging and and liver damage. Officials went to the suspect’s home several times to arrest her but she was nowhere to be found. They finally nabbed her yesterday.
“It’s brutal,” said ASPCA Assistant Director Joe Pentangelo. “People want to hurt other people and they’ll take anything precious away to hurt them. This was a cherished family pet that was killed.”