- Massachusetts, USA -
The Berkshire District Attorney’s Office announced that on Friday, January 27, 2023, 50-years-old KELLY HATHAWAY pleaded guilty to two counts of animal cruelty as part of a plea agreement before Judge Mary Beth Ogulewicz in Central Berkshire District Court.
Prosecutors have agreed to dismiss thirteen counts of animal cruelty as part of the plea deal reached between the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office and HATHAWAY’s defense attorney Scott Westcott.
HATHAWAY was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to complete 50 hours of community service. According to the DA’s Office, following the plea agreement, HATHAWAY “was ordered to have a mental health evaluation and follow any after care as instructed by the court.” She is not allowed to have animals in her home while she’s on probation, or work with animals.
On January 28, 2022, fifteen cats were left and abandoned in extreme winter conditions on back roads in Richmond and Lanesborough. Two of the cats died, possibly from exposure, and another was never found. The VOICELESS VICTIMS, who were undernourished and dehydrated, ranged from the ages of five months to five years old. Eleven of the cats, four females and seven males survived after care from the Berkshire Humane Society.
Dr. Yoanna Maitre, a consulting veterinarian for Berkshire Humane Society, had checked on the cats soon after they came in and said: “They actually were overall in reasonably good condition, but they were underweighted, and they do have chronic diarrhea ... but overall, I think they're rapidly improving, and they were spared a worse fate because of how quickly they were captured and brought in here.”
The MSPCA, the Lanesborough Police Department, and the Massachusetts State Police launched a joint investigation to find those responsible for the heinous act and the Berkshire Humane Society offered a $1,000 reward in exchange for information.
The investigation revealed that KELLY HATHAWAY had heartlessly and soullessly abandoned the cats. Another defendant in the case, ARTHUR W. RANEY, admitted to his involvement in knowingly driving HATHAWAY to the two locations to do so. Investigators interviewed residents along the roadway and looked at camera footage, and said the duo were caught on video driving to the area where the cats were found clustered in the road.
A press conference was held in early March 2022, to announce the identification of the two individuals involved in the case, both of Pittsfield.
According to iBerkshires.com, HATHAWAY told authorities that said her landlord had told her to remove the cats from her apartment on Union Street in Pittsfield because of the “offensive urine smell” and because the landlord was attempting to put the building on the market.
Part of the police report stated: “Not only did Hathaway and Raney abandon the cats in violation of General Laws, they did so in a severe weather event rapidly developed with extreme cold, wind, and snow.” The report goes on to say: “Two cats died and one remains missing. Without the quick response of animal welfare groups, concerned citizens, and public safety agencies, all of the cats likely would have suffered and could have died due to lack of proper shelter, protection from the weather, food, and drink.”
On February 22, 2022, the MSPCA’s Law Enforcement team filed fifteen charges against HATHAWAY and RANEY in the Central Berkshire District Court.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Aleah Fisher and Megan Rose.
This story put more than one knot in my stomach. Putting aside the cruelty side of it, how can someone get away with probation in a case as heartbreaking as this one? How can prosecutors dismiss charges in animal cruelty cases? A lot of us are fighting for animal rights but if our work is not supported by judges, lawmakers, and prosecutors, who can we rely on? Who do we rely on to give justice to the VOICELESS VICTIMS? Vigilantes?
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The Berkshire Humane Society kindly provided me with some pictures. In the gallery, they are the ones that follow the Humane Society’s logo.
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