A former Cheektowaga woman has pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges for failing to provide proper food and water to 156 animals, Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn’s office said.
Kerisa J. Schmitt, 24, was charged in December with 308 counts of animal cruelty after SPCA Serving Erie County officers responded to a request for a welfare check on a dog at a home on Colton Street. Officials said when the officers looked through the window of a small garage, they noticed a number of farm animals kept in unsanitary conditions.
SPCA investigators returned with Cheektowaga police officers to execute a search warrant, wherein they discovered 117 chickens in two pens, one 3 feet by 4 feet, and the other 5 feet by 7 feet, according to the SPCA. The agency alleged that the pens were packed with feces about 6 inches deep.
Officers also discovered 18 ducks, two goats and a pig in the garage and seven rabbits in an outdoor hutch, they said. They found eight more rabbits, two dogs and a cat inside the home, totaling 156 farm and domestic animals on her property.
The SPCA took in the surviving animals, The Buffalo News reported in December. The animals – many of whom were injured and ill – were cleaned, fed and given housing and veterinary checkups.
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