Cheryn Smilen, of Smilen Cats, Arrested for Starving 30 Cats to Death





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UPDATE: CHERYN SMILEN WAS SENTENCED TO 364 DAYS IN JAIL IN THE METRO-WEST WOMEN'S FACILITY!


UPDATE: CHERYN SMILEN WAS SENTENCED TO 364 DAYS IN JAIL IN THE METRO-WEST WOMEN'S FACILITY!


CHERYN ROCHELLE SMILEN arrested on February 16, 2018 for ANIMAL CRUELTY 

MIAMI DADE COURT CASE: F-18-003300

Cheryn was released on an $18,000 bond


Cheryn locked and abandoned over 30 cats in a small efficiency with no air, no food, and no water for months until 18 of the cats died from agonizing and from a horrific starvation death. The place was filled with feces and urine. The 10 cats who were alive were emaciated and eating the dead remains of the 18 cats. The survivors are currently being hospitalized and treated at the vet, however many of them haven't survived. All the survivors suffer from a swollen liver and anemia which are indications of starvation. The death toll has thus far risen to 30. The address where this atrocity took place is 2588 NE 182 Terrace, North Miami Beach, FL, 33160. However, Cheryn never resided in this efficiency, she rented it solely for the cats. Her actual residence is in Sunny Isles Beach, you may scroll down, just past the middle of this blog for the actual address.


Watch the Channel 7 report regarding this incident.
(might take a few seconds to load)




Para ver en Español oprima aquí





Neighbors were alerted by the smell of decomposing bodies and called the police. When captured 3 additional cats have been immediately sacrificed by animal control due to their horrific condition.
      
What appears to be a skull inside
the litter box on the right
The judge initially refused to let her out on bail which meant she would be required to remain in jail pending the final resolution of her case. However she probably cried to the judge that she must be let out so she can care for her 92 year old ailing elderly mother, so therefore, a few days later that judge had softened his stance and set her bond at $18,000. She was released on bail and is currently at home awaiting trial. As of this moment she is caring for that 92 year old mother of hers. Someone who neglected 30 cats should they now be trusted with caring for the elderly? Hopefully she won't starve her mother as well. 
On two seperate occasions in 2017 Cheryn had made a stunning statement to two individuals. According to those individuals Cheryn claimed that her own mother, Sylvia Smilen, had accused her (Cheryn) of trying to poison her. Phone number of DCF (Department of Children and Families) 1-800-962-2873


Watch the Channel 10 report on Cheryn Smilen
by clicking here:


If this doesn't make your blood boil then listen to this, when the judge set bond at $18,000 then Cheryn was required to put up 10% of that amount however lo and behold she claimed she was broke so therefore she applied for this Florida program which would pay that $1,800. Fortunately for Cheryn she was approved since she had no priors and just walked out of jail without dishing a penny out of pocket.

Throughout the years CHERYN WAS OFFERED HELP BY CAT NETWORK and advised by many people to release her cats that she kept in cages for months and whom she failed to provide medical care for when many of them would get severely ill causing many of her cats to die due to her neglect.


Para ver en español oprima aquí
   

Thus far 2 petitions have been created demanding that Cheryn Rochelle Smilen be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law! These two petitions have already acquired almost 25,000 signatures. Click below to sign either one of these petitions:
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/561/410/322/prosecute-cheryn-smilen-for-starving-to-death-24-cats/  



 Cheryn's arrest report
Click to Enlarge

      


Click Play Button to Watch the
CBS4 Coverage of this Atrocity



Cheryn's felony charges from the Miami Dade County court can be seen here. 
Feel free to click any of these 3 screenshots to zoom in:
     
 



Additional case information (Click to Enlarge)



 
On August 28, 2019 Cheryn's case was set for a hearing for Motion for Downward Departure to ask for leniency by requesting probation and Withhold of Adjudication, instead of jail time and a felony conviction. However the Honorable Judge Alberto Milian denied the motion and her case is set for trial April 26, 2021

[Watch Channel 7 Coverage of this Hearing Below]


[Watch NBC6 Coverage of this Hearing Below]
 

[Watch the Local10 Coverage of this Hearing Below]

[Watch the MiamiHerald Coverage of this Hearing Below]

Cheryn's Court Dockets
(Click to Enlarge)



 
    
 
    

Click HERE to read the article
Click HERE to read the article


*******UPDATE*******
As of June 14, 2018 a court order has been issued banning Cheryn Rochelle Smilen from ever owning or possessing another animal EVER AGAIN in the United States. However there were 4 stipulations:
1 - Cheryn is required to pay $5,000 restitution fees to the state for this civil case.
2 - She can appeal her case and it will be up to the judge to determine if whether he will overturn his decision. However we will all be there (the prosecutor, MDAS, and us) to present our side to convince the judge otherwise. Plus the judge probably won’t even consider her appeal unless she first pays that $5,000 amount.
3 - Her mother’s 15 year old poodle, Orion, may stay with her, since he is grandfathered in. 
4 - Random inspections by MDAS (Miami Made Animal Services) won’t begin until after the final resolution of her criminal case which is scheduled to begin in September. 
-Anyone who witnesses Cheryn, or has any information of her, violating this agreement, you are encouraged to contact the Sunny Isles Police Department at (305) 947-4440 




THE VICTIMS
Below are images which were taken inside the efficiency of a few of the dead cats
[images taken by Miami Dade Animal Services]


Cat died inside the sink while trying to desperately
drink the last drops of water from the faucet
[image taken by Miami Dade Animal Services]

 



 

     
Cheryn Smilen's personal information from public records
Phone
Cell 310-600-6402  
Landline (305) 931-2404  
Cheryn's address is:  
Winston Towers 300  
230 174 ST Apt #1012  
Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 33160  
And her email address is:  
Disclaimer: Please DON'T use this info to harass Cheryn, stalk her, NOR call her up at the middle of the night because Cheryn Smilen is VERY sensitive.



Channel 7 Second Follow Up Report
(Click play button to watch)


Be on the lookout
If you are a potential witness You may also contact the prosecutor assigned to this case, his name is Helen Schwartz and her phone number is 305-547-0412. Please contact him and provide the case number F-18-003300 once you speak with him or his secretary inform them you wish to cooperate in any way possible in order to assist with seeking justice for these cats. 
She also might be going under a different name so here is a zoomed up picture of her and below are the types of vehicles she drives
   
Image on the left is of extremely high resolution, feel free to download it from my blog if you wish
   
     

This is how she looks now

      

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Media links regarding this case 

2019 Media coverage
Miami Herald
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article234439042.html
Local10
https://www.local10.com/news/florida/north-miami-beach/south-florida-woman-to-go-to-trial-after-numerous-cats-found-dead-in-home
WSVN7
https://wsvn.com/news/investigations/woman-accused-of-neglecting-dozens-of-cats-in-ne-miami-dade-efficiency-to-stand-trial/
El Nuevo Herald
https://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/sur-de-la-florida/article234506467.html
Periodico Cubano
https://www.periodicocubano.com/denuncian-un-envenenamiento-masivo-de-gatos-en-un-condominio-de-miami-dade/
and 
https://www.periodicocubano.com/mujer-al-sur-de-florida-ira-a-juicio-por-cargos-de-crueldad-animal/

2018 media coverage 
Channel WSVN 7 news report
https://wsvn.com/news/investigations/decomposing-cats-found-in-efficiency-woman-charged-with-18-counts-of-animal-cruelty/
Channel 7 follow up on the case
Channel 10 

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Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The police and state attorney have refused to remove the two dogs she has in her apartment. Please lets call police of sunny isles 305-947-4440 and court and ask them to remove the two dogs she has in there so they wont suffer the same fate as the cats in efficiency, here is her address
      "230 174 ST Apt #1012, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160" and the name of the building is "Winston Towers 300"

      Delete
    2. I knew Cheryn Smilen for 2 years, she had us all fooled, she pretended like she was doing good for animals and in reality she was living a double life.

      Delete
  2. I think this person should be put in jail and throw away the key and give her the longest jail sentence possible.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There are still cats listed on Overstock.com under Smilen cat rescue. Can someone please check and make sure she doesn't have another place with cats? The cats on overstock are all Siamese or Siamese mix.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, we filed several complaints last night and this morning with Overstock.com and we finally got overstock to take her site down. She had 6 websites in total, from the 6 we already succeeded in removing 4. Adoptapet.com, rescueme, match.cat, and overstock were the ones we got removed so far, all thats left are her sites on petfinder and allpaws. Thanks again for notifying us.

      Delete
    2. I wrote to MDAS in 2016 documenting her abusive behavior towards cats in her care. Cats and kittens were dying in her care. Weston Animal Hospitsl, Dr. Valdez, treated some and should have reported the abuse. Animal Control did nothing.

      Delete
    3. I hope the judge makes an example out of her. Btw we just got petfinder and allpaws to take her site down as well

      Delete
  4. Check out Ny Animals Rock website. Smilen Cats that died posted as ADOPTED! ��

    ReplyDelete
  5. I hurts so much to look at their little faces and imagine what torture they went through.
    Burn in Hell, Cheryn Smilen, BURN!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This woman who has been arrested on 18 counts of felony animal cruelty, abuse, and NEGLECT is the same woman who is caring for a 92 year old ELDERLY MOTHER. Would you trust this woman to care for your 92 year old mother?? I heard from a few people that about a year ago that 92 year old mother had accused Cheryn of trying to poison her. Given the simple fact that her mother had made that accusation, the judge, should have therefore, ordered her to be kept away from the mother as one of the terms of her release on bail for the 18 counts of felony animal cruelty and neglect. Our legal system is flawed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should call Department of Social Services or Child and family services or whatever its called there in FL. They are required to check if there's a report. They can go in and assess the living situation of the mother. At least they could have her on a list to check periodically. Better safe than sorry. It's not a far leap from animal abuse to elder abuse.

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    2. Per the Prosecutor have all people send their letters to: Judge Alberto Molina, 1351 NW 12 St. Miami, FL 33125. Please pass this on to anybody who wants to send a letter regarding Cheryn Smilen or Smilen Cat Rescue

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    3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. When i's the next court hearing please?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hope this evil person rots in hell!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Justice needed for the innocent voiceless animals who slowly suffered for weeks till they found death while this woman kept on recruiting more cats from people who trusted her!

    ReplyDelete

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