On August 16, 2024, 67-year-old DONALD C. HEENAN (pictured), was arraigned in Westfield District Court for drowning a nursing cat.
HEENAN was formally charged with one felony count of death of an animal by drowning and one felony count of animal cruelty.
On July 30, 2024, Westfield Animal Control Officer Margaret Terkelsen received an email from HEENAN advising her that he had a cat in a humane trap he had been using to capture stray and feral cats. HEENAN wanted Officer Terkelsen to go to his home, on 23 George Street, to pick up the trapped cat. He wrote: “Please come pick it up, it’s in the backyard. If you don’t want it, I’ll dispatch it.”
According to Officer Terkelsen’s report, she immediately called HEENAN and a man answered the phone, but after she identified herself, the person hung up.
Officer Terkelsen then reached out to the Westfield Police Department for assistance and an officer accompanied her to HEENAN’s home.
Upon arrival, officers asked HEENAN where the cat was and he answered that Officer Terkelsen took too long to respond, so he drowned the cat. When Officer Terkelsen asked him whether the cat was dead, he said yes.
At that point, the officers asked HEENAN where the dead cat was and HEENAN answered that he dumps deceased animals on a property on Pochassic Road.
The officers and HEENAN drove to the location but HEENAN didn’t seem to remember where he had disposed of the furvictim.
Eventually, the police officer spotted the cat a few feet from where they had parked.
Officer Terkelsen described the Voiceless Victim as a gray female domestic shorthair who appeared to have been nursing kittens. She said the cat’s body showed signs of having been drowned.
The police officer asked HEENAN how he had drowned the cat so they returned to HEENAN’s home where the scum showed officers how he did it.
HEENAN showed the officers the humane trap the cat was in, and said that with the cat inside, he put the trap in a garbage bin filled with water. The officers then opened the garbage bin and according to Officer Terkelsen, it was filled nearly to the top with water, mixed with fur.
Officer Terkelsen asked HEENAN whether the cat was alive when he drowned her and he said yes. He added that he waited at least ten minutes for the cat to die.
HEENAN holds a license in Massachusetts as well as in Connecticut as a Problem Animal Control Agent, allowing him to euthanize “problem animals”. Because of this, the officers asked him whether drowning was his primary method of euthanizing the animals. HEENAN answered that since his permit to own a firearm had been revoked, he cannot shoot animals. He told the officers that if after ten minutes in the water the animals are still alive, he presses on their ribcage with his foot to prevent them from breathing. HEENAN went on to state that drowning was a humane way because “he’s not cruel.”
HEENAN was placed under arrest and charged with animal cruelty and drowning the cat.
At his arraignment on August 16, 2024, before District Court Judge Bethzaida Sanabria-Vega, HEENAN pleaded not guilty to the charges. Hampden County Assistant District Attorney Jamie Spinella requested HEENAN be held without bail pending the outcome of a dangerousness hearing, which the judge allowed. But then at the dangerousness hearing on August 28, 2024, judge Sanabria-Vega ruled HEENAN was to be released on personal recognizance. The judge set a few conditions, including surrendering the Problem Animal Control Agent licenses.
Since at the time of his arraignment HEENAN was on probation for two firearm-related charges stemming from 2021 incidents, because of this animal cruelty arrest, the firearm-related charges have now been refiled by the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office.
This means that if HEENAN is found guilty of the animal cruelty charges, he could be sentenced for up to only seven years in state prison, or not more than 2 ½ years in the house of correction and be fined for not more than $5,000. A JOKE!
According to the Criminal Docket, HEENAN is set to be back in court on October 30, 2024.
Authorities did not disclose the name of the deceased Voiceless Victim, so I took the liberty of naming her Emily after Emily Jane Brontë, an English novelist and poet who absolutely adored cats.
Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from Mass Live. Please note that details may be removed or new information added should updates become available.
In the case of charges being dropped, dismissed, or the case being purged, this article will be rectified accordingly, if official documentation is provided to Voice For Us.
HEENAN’s mugshot provided to Voice For Us by the Hampden County Sheriff's Office
