UPDATE: Nicole Spatig
WOMAN GETS PROBATION IN DOG’S STARVATION DEATH
by Bill Vidonic, Beaver County Times
BEAVER, PA — A former Beaver resident who allowed her German shepherd to starve to death inside its cage last year will spend a year on probation.
Nicole Spatig, 22, pleaded no contest to a single count of cruelty to animals for the death of her dog, Mya, which was found in Spatig’s former residence in Beaver on Dec. 13. Beaver police said it was one of the worst cases of animal abuse they’d ever seen.
Spatig’s plea means she is not admitting the allegations against her, but accepts the facts as they were filed against her by prosecutors.
Beaver police said the dog may have been dead for several weeks before it was discovered by Spatig’s landlord at the time. The dog was found with her snout and teeth intertwined around bars of the cage. Police said the dog may have tried to chew her way out of the cage, having no food, possibly for several weeks.
The landlord also found four cats in the garbage- and feces-filled apartment; the cats were taken by a Humane Society of Beaver County animal officer.
Spatig told police last year that she had medical problems, and had been staying on and off with her parents. She also said she believed that an ex-boyfriend, who wasn’t named, was caring for the animals.
Beaver County Assistant District Attorney Frank Martocci said Spatig did not have a prior criminal record, and for the cruelty charge, “That’s what was legal” for the punishment.
Martocci said the district attorney’s office did not make a recommendation on Spatig’s sentence, and Knafelc told Spatig before he sentenced her that her fate was solely in his hands.
Beaver Police Chief Dan Madgar said of the sentence, “The police department did its job, and it was up to the court to make a determination (on Spatig’s punishment), and we have to live with it.”
Spatig refused to comment Tuesday morning. She briefly locked herself in a restroom in the basement of the county courthouse when approached by reporters from The Times and WPXI-TV.
Spatig has not said where she lives now; her address in court records is listed as the public defender’s office in the county courthouse. She previously told The Times she no longer lives in Beaver County.
Spatig’s case has received extraordinary attention, some of it rather intense.
Spatig is prominently featured on the Web site “People You’ll See in Hell.” Other Web sites called for Spatig to be locked in a cage herself.
Previously, the district attorney’s office said it was investigating threats made against Spatig. District Attorney Anthony Berosh also said that his office received phone calls and e-mails about the case. Nearly two weeks after the dog was found, animal activists held a candlelight vigil in a Beaver park.
So how about that, we’re famous. Today The Beaver County Times, tomorrow The New York Times! Thanks to KathyK for pointing me to this article.
78 Comments »
what a joke…
Hey Nicole, come up to NY and see what we do with lowlives such as yourself. I really wish you would :)
Someone should sic a pittbull on this stupid cunt.
I hope she was barred from keeping pets and having children for the rest of her pathetic life. people like her should NEVER breed
Pittbulls, in the correct care, are actually beautiful, sweet, intelligent and rather docile (we have one who has attacked a cat or two but would die for our children.) And they’re waaaayyyy to smart to eat shit- so they wouldn’t touch Mizz Spatig with a ten- foot bargepole.
you fuckin stinking bitch. i wish i knew where you could be found. someday, somewhere, somehow, you’ll get what’s coming to you. KARMA you little low life SKANK. i hope you never have any kids! i’d be afriad you starve them too you dumb cunt. OMG you make me SICK!!!!! here’s my email just in case you have something you dare to say lori51262@yahoo.com i dare you
Lori, I like your style!
I was thinkin the same thing!! lol… you go lori, don’t forget to invite me to this melee… i want at her too!
No contest…. grumble grumble… probation… grumble grumble…
Does the ASPCA have a ban list? Kind of like a sexual predator list, only it prevents you from buying cat litter at PetSmart or adopting a puppy?
Jason,
Yes, certain restictions are usually placed on morons who abuse/kill animals, during the sentencing. Take a crazy ass cat hoarder for example, part of their sentence could be prohibiting that person from ever owning cats again. Unfortunately, these sentences aren’t enforced or monitored too well or too closely.
When are mandatory sentences going to be imposed on these brutal fucks already ?
I say 10/20 years minimum for this, and forced sterlization…god forbid if this total waste of her parents time and effort ever has a child.
I shudder at the mere thought of it.
It is so sad to think of the agony that puppy went through before she died, not to mention the thoughts like “I thought she loved me, where is she?” This bitch is one of those people who get off on the novelty of pets, then has no interest once that novelty wears off. I truly think people should get real jail time for this, not some slap-on-the-wrist probabtion. Poor cats too, I bet it will be hard for them to be trusting and loving with their next family. Stupid selfish neglectful bitch-ass whore.
It sickens me to think if she had walked in that pig-sty before the puppy actually died, that pup would have probably used what little energy she had to wag her tail and would just have been so happy to see the stupid bitch. Sorry, but this burns my ass.
Omg that is….[[shudders]]
I can’t believe she didn’t even get community service for her crime. She should have been made to clean out dirty animal cages at the Humane Society for a year. Well, I’m really glad the Beaver County Times mentioned our site–now Nicole can read about herself here!
“She should have been made to clean out dirty animal cages at the Humane Society for a year. ”
You are so right about that, Kathy!!! If no jail time, why not that, at least???
Cleaning out cages….Yeah! What ever happened to creative sentencing in this country?
one problem with her cleaning cages.. that means she is still handeling the animals to move them in and out of the cages and whos to say her abusive self wont hurt another animal? abuse isnt always detectable in the begining
“Spatig’s plea means she is not admitting the allegations against her…”
Oh well of course not! That would mean ACTUALLY TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR SOMETHING.
Hopefully we don’t hear about this miserable bitch again, unless she falls down an open manhole and starves to death.
you all must live very sheltered lives to think this misguided young person is the worst of the worst when it comes to animal abuse. Yes, she was stupid. Yes, maybe the boyfriend story was true, and if it was she should have checked to make sure the boyfriend was actually feeding her dog. Or, did any of you think that if the boyfriend angle was true, they he did this to get back at her? Makes more sense than someone just leaving a dog to starve in an apartment they did not live in anymore.
let’s talk about something that actually IS wrong, like all the people who force dogs to fight to the death, Like breeders who dont’t know how to handle more than one dog at a time letting HUNDREDS of them die in cages.
Those who sent her death threats need to have their heads checked. No matter what someone does, if you threaten them, you are just as crazy as they are.
You can’t argue with that – While I’d give my life to save one of my cats, I sure as hell wouldn’t kill for them. Those wacked-out Peta people who blow up research labs and commit all sorts of violence in the name of animals are no better than some of the people we’ve written up on this website.
And dogfighting is barbaric – it has nothing to do with culture or sport.
I would kill for my kitty cat, maybe it makes me slightly crazy, whatever, but I feel that any human in charge of caring for an animal who doesnt, knowingly, deserves a good old fashioned passionate ass whooping.
I’m certainly not asking for anyone to pull some vigilante justice on her a**. I’m just expecting people to admit she’s a stupid ass bitch. A SELFISH stupid ass bitch…who wants to bet she ate and drank while that pup wasted to a corpse??
I must admit to taking a long vacation once and asking a friend to feed my enormous Oscar fish for me while I was gone. She misunderstood me, the fish didn’t get cared for and they died. She’s still my friend. I didn’t threaten to kill her.
I’ve got to say that you really haven’t lived until you’ve come home at midnight with three tired, cranky children after driving two hours from the airport to the overpowering smell of twenty pounds of fish rotting in their aquariums. You could smell it OUTSIDE the house.
Yeah, but did they go to the lengths to open up the windows in the winter, and basically try to hide the dead fish?? Didn’t think so….that’s what makes this different……
Your Mom, Actually I don’t live a sheltered life at and I don’t think too many people posting on this site do. I do consider this to be a very barbaric act of animal cruelty, and if you read the original article on this site (you can access it by clicking her name), you’ll see that she changed her story several times about what had happened. The fact of the matter is that she left the windows open and the fans running in the apartment, probably to mask the smell of the decomposing dogs. She basically tortured the dog to death, and the cats would have died, too, if the landlady didn’t discover them. Also, I don’t think people were seriously threatening Nicole–just harrassing her–which she deserves because she still hasn’t owned up to the responsibility of what she did.
Your Mom, You are correct that dog fighting owners and filthy breeders are horrible, despicable ‘people.’ But,that doesn’t negate the horror this woman chose to perpetrate on a defenseless creature.
I have absolutely no sympathy for this sorry excuse of a person. NO animal should ever be treated like this. This dog was dependent on this woman and she showed herself to be a completely selfish, sadistic, POS!
I can’t begin to imagine what moral chip is missing in this POS to have treated anything, especially a caged animal without any resources, this way. She deserves jail time and all the scorn and contempt being focused on her!!!
I completely agree with you!
I would kick her ass if I met her. Sorry, but you are NOT my MOM.
Hey “your mom”
Whoever said we thought she was the “worst of the worst”……..doesn’t she still suck??
Does that mean I (or anyone else) should give her a free pass because there are others out there who do worse? If that’s what you think, you are part of the problem.
FACT: those pets relied on her dumb ass.
FACT: She left them to fend for themselves and ultimately die.
FACT: She pleaded NO CONTEST to those charges……what do you not understand there?
Quit defending a lame ass bitch……
not defending her, just saying there are more important battles to fight…but you all would know that if you werent a bunch of spamming teenagers
Your Mom–
You’re evidentally clueless about the vast amount of articles that are included on this site, and the wide variety of crimes discussed here, including the “more important issues” types such as the torture and murder of children. Why don’t you get the hell off your high horse already.
I’m not a spamming teenager – I’m a mature, middle-aged white Republican – bit of a difference.
This silly little bitch may not be the worst of the worst – but she definitely is an irresponsible, inconsiderate, lying sack of shit. What she did is disgusting. We all know there is no boyfriend – she was off having fun and doing everything but feeding and caring for her animals – and she doesn’t care, she doesn’t have the balls to take responsibility. And here’s the deal – she’s probably going to have kids someday – what happens when they get in the way of something and she can’t find a babysitter? Casey Anthony, anyone?
Is this spam? Did you find it in your inbox? Hot damn! I’m 23, not a teenager. I’m possibly an alcoholic, and I am definitly my own biggest fan. I just like to vent my rage at stupidity online :)
Mmmmmm, Spam! Good with eggs or by itself
Lately it seems that whenever anyone says something on the internet that isn’t exactly kosher, its spam. I thought spam was canned ham or junk e-mail, apparently I’m way behind on the lingo of today.
It also seems that while 18 years old is old enough and mature enough to live on their own and make their own decisions, to fight in war, to get married, to be arrested; they still get defended with the age card. 18 year old kills baby- oh she was too young to know better. 18 year old starves dog to death- oh she is too young to know better. Well you know what 18 is an adult so they better learn to know better or move back home to be cared for because they’re obviously lacking in some fundamental skills for maintaining their well being. If they’re too young, where’s the cutoff between being too young to know better and being old enough to know better?
Congrats on the news mention!
The beating she’s taking on the internet is probably worse than the courtroom. Her picture is all over the place on other websites and blogs. Will probably stay there for a very long time, if not forever. Think of who will see. Future employers..future in-laws… High School reunions are out of the question now. Everybody will know her face and her name. She’s lucky she didn’t suffer the wrath of Anonymous, The Internet Vigilante.
That sentence was a joke. But the internet doesn’t joke around.
Y’know, this really pisses me off. Animal cruelty laws are a joke, and until they start handing out stiffer penalties for this sort of thing, twisted people are just going to keep on abusing. She should have at the very least gotten some jail time and been banned from ever owning an animal.
BTW, been lurking here for a while, but just got up enough nerve to post a day or two ago. Just wanted to say love the site!
Welcome Red, and I totally agree with your post.
I want mandatory prison time for these little fucks, and for the life of me will never understand how or why the majority of these crimes go completely unpunished.
The worst part is the sickening fear I have that we’ll all read about this stupid bitch again in a few years…only this time she will have taken the life of a human, and most likely that human will be one she gave birth to.
I’ve been a lurker for a long time too!! I just recently realized I have stuff to say too!! Welcome fellow lurker!! LOL
once I realized I was among people who thought along my same thoughts (for the most part), that’s when it occured to me to post myself….I love reading what you all have to say :-)
OK, know when I wanted to say something?? It was when I read about the guy that bit his son’s eyes out. Although I’m still speechless on that one…I’m jut glad that beautiful kid has at least one good eye……but for real at that moment I realized I wanted to say something, ANYTHING, but not just lurk :-)
And we’re glad you did – You’ve repeatedly shown yourself to be intelligent , sensitive, and interested in both seeing that the scumbags we feature receive and the justice they deserve and in the the plight of their victims. Plus you’re able to think for yourself, which is a rare commodity in this day and age.
welcome red i was also a lurker until 2 days ago lol and i have seen in a couple of states the law is a little bit harsher was reading on another site one guy starved his pitt bull to death n got 2-3 years in jail n a heafty fine with it she got off way to easy..
This cooz knew that she was neglecting an animal- someone who was subjected to rely on a human by nature, a human who can take that responsibility ex nihlo-just because they are a human……
Humans have been given a responsibility to protect our animal friends, by default…. even the biggest piles of shit can own an animal. Foul.
Scum like this bitch deserve way more than they will ever get for letting a poor pup die like this pup did…..hope she will never meet me. I will kick her teeth in…..
TAKE CARE OF OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS.
LOVE THEM, THEY NEED YOU!
Figures the bitch would be from PA.
Now you guys see why I’ve adopted three cats in the less than a year I’ve been here?
No spay/neuter.
Kill shelters….
horrible gross place to be an animal. Heck, I’m human and no fan of PA myself….
And to “Your Mom”… I wouldn’t dream of threatening her… but I’d stand by and refuse to help if she got hit by a car in my presence and lay bleeding in the street pleading for first aid (oops, sorry, I don’t have my gloves and I can’t risk contact with biohazard.)… but I’m a bit cranky right now.
BITCH, hope I never find her in my lifetime…………..
Couldnt this cooz buy a new coat? Ugly ass bitch.
Fuck her. Animal murdering bitch.
I said that Miss Cherry needed to be locked up with an ape, so this bitch needs to be locked up with a horney male chimp.
Also BOTH bitches need to be spayed…….
Some may say “it was just an animal” BUT even with that attitude, what will some poor baby go thru when forced to have a mother as such.
Sure Nicole may “grow up”, but do we really want to risk a child’s life with trash like this??????
She’s not worth talking much about so I’ll just say…grats on teh national recognition PYSIH!
Put her in jail for 2 years and don’t feed her!
One count…. Probation…. WTF this makes me sick! I bet she’s laughing it up that she got a slap on the wrist, I pray she fucks up! GRRRR fucking CUNT!
She had stated that she thought an X boyfriend was taking care of the animals……. as i stated before – DUH X should say it all.
So – is she lieing as to get him in trouble (remember X) or is she that stupid…..
Now if she said “former” then I’d tend to be more sympathetic….. I have some X and some former girlfriends…… My wife has met or talked to some fo the formers while even I don’t bother with the X’s.
You guys need to get a life instead of leaving hate-filled comments on an internet board about someone you’ve never even met… Seriously. You have no idea what her situation was. She had to leave her home due to a medical condition, and her boyfriend didn’t take care of her pets while she was gone. Yes, what occured was tragic, but she could be as devastated about this incident as you all are.
And then you say she deserves to die…? Listen to what you’re saying. You value a dog’s life over a human’s life. People like you make me sick. How about show some sympathy for the poor girl and her dead shepherd.
Says the moron who sat here and read every comment we left, and then admonishes us about “getting lives”…how cute, Bob.
Now let me guess, you’re an ex-boyfriend, or just some random asshole who thinks this bitch is “hawt” ? – Or, a troll, in which case you’ll eventually be dealt with one way or another.
Anyways, fuck you Bob, and the cunt you rode out of.
Toddles
Gee thanks Bob, but my life is quite full already. And I’m not so naive as to swallow Nicole’s story hook line and sinker as you seem to have. What she did, or failed to do was inexcusable, and it makes people made – if they choose to vent their anger by wishing some terrible death on how in a message board like this, what harm is dome, really? I’m sure no one here actually wants to see here dead. So relax Bob, OK.
Bob–Did you even read the original article on Nicole which detailed what actually happened? How the windows were left open and the fan left running in the middle of winter to hide the stench of the decomposing dog? How the Beaver police said this was the worse case of animal abuse they’d ever seen? How she changed her story about what happened to the police several times? Nicole was no innocent victim–the dog and cats who depended on her for love and care, and who were abandoned by her, were the innocent victims. BTW, Nicole used to live about 2 miles from me, so I am very aware of the details of the case, unlike yourself. Instead of telling us to “get a life,” why don’t you “get a life” and put your time to better use than defending someone I’m sure YOU wouldn’t entrust the care of your children or pets to.
Sympathy?? You’ve been drinking, right? One tee many martoonies??
Poor girl and her dead shepherd? Her shepherd is DEAD because of her. If she really fed her cats every few days (like she told the police) then she KNEW the dog was dead.
I don’t think you’re uninformed, I think you’re a family member. Why don’t you search for Nicole Spatig. She’s taking a beating on other sites as well. Her name and her dirty deed will live forever ONLINE.
She got the Lori Drew treatment. That dead dog is a health hazard and she is too stupid to even realize that. What a moron!
Oh yes, because it’s perfectly alright to let your dog starve to death. Why didn’t I think of that? Because I actually care about my pets enough to have an emergency plan in case of illness or bodily harm. I even mention them in my will! They’re going to my best friend in the unlikely event of my death. She loves animals and will care for them like I do. Don’t EVEN try to defend this girl. She made NO effort to put a plan into action, other than let the doggy die.
This lady should be tied up in a sleeping bag along with the body of the dog and the four cats found in the garbage along with the stinking garbage and used cat litter.
Then she, tied up with her load in the sleeping bag, should be dumped out in the hot desert. About what she did to the dog.
Sorry, I just noticed that the cats lived- so they should not go in the sleeping bag with her… but they should still find some dead cats and put them in the sleeping bag with her.
..well if the cats were alive they would scratch the shit outta her. but I’d hate to see them go down with the ship. isnt theyre fault their owners are ubber asshats
Probation…..what a fucking joke!! She deserved quite a bit of jail time for this. As far as her having a medical condition, sorry but that is no excuse!! I have had so many surgeries that I have lost count, live with daily pain, and daily medical conditions, but my animals and children are always taken care of. I have four dogs, a cat, two turtles, and two kids and it is my job to make sure that their okay and provided for……it is not anyone else’s job. I don’t assume that they are being taken care of when I have my surgeries, I know they are being taken care of. If they weren’t, then I would get up out of bed after just having had surgery & do whatever I needed to do to make sure they’re okay…..I don’t care what kind of condition I’m in or how much pain I’m in. When you have animals or children, you take on a responsibility and duty to care & provide for them no matter what! I would go hungry before I let my animals or kids go without because I love them and it is my responsibility to see to their needs before my own.
Nicole Spating knowingly allowed that sweet dog to die in a cruel and horrific manner. It breaks my heart to know what she went through. All I keep seeing in my head over and over is this poor pup being so weak from hunger & Nicole walking through the door…..this sweet dog eyes automatically light up, she starts to wag her tail, & she tries to get up…..the puppy is thinking she’s going to come see me & feed me, but Nicole just throws a sheet over the cage & leaves….the german shepherd loses what little strength she had & collapses……she begins to whine…..she wonders why Nicole didn’t feed her and why she doesn’t love her anymore…..the sweet puppy closes her eyes, but she doesn’t wake up this time!!
I HATE PEOPLE THAT TREAT ANIMALS LIKE SHOWPIECES & ONLY HAVE THEM FOR THE NOVELTY!! ANIMALS ARE NOT DOLLS—–THEY LIVE AND BREATH AND EAT AND LOVE AND FEEL PAIN JUST LIKE WE HUMANS DO!!
DO NOT ADOPT AN ANIMAL IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE CARE OF IT AND LOVE IT.
I got an advice for Nicole Spatig. I suggest you go to Google type the name Lori Drew up. It’s not that hard.
I don’t know about anyone elses pets but there is no mistaking when my Pug (his name is Gump and he is severely handsome, just in case you wanted to know) is hungry. He gets in your face and looks at you with the most beautiful bug eyes and whines. I can’t EVER EVER imagine depriving him of anything.
I don’t know how it feels to kill a living being- except spiders- but I can’t imagine I would be able to sleep again because of the grief. To do something that heinous, to induce that much suffering is beyond me.
I can’t believe she got off with probation. Ridiculous. I’m betting we will see this skank here again- and it will be soon
All you have to do with this idiot is lock her in a cage 24-7 and leave her for 5-6 months. The End.
xactly leave her in a small cage,no bathroom,no water,damn sure no food.leave her there for months to a yr,where she has to sleep and sit in her own piss and shit.in other words,LET THE BITCH DIE JUST LIKE THAT.
on behalf of doggies and kitties every where,i declare this month.DOGGIE AND KITTY MONTH.
Wow, that kinda sucks that I have to share a name with this shit face.
Ahhh the difference being you are nothing like this skank…that’s a plus :)
Thanks Janey. :) Yeah, I may not be much of a dog person, but I wouldn’t do that to any living creature. It takes a sick person to do that.
Your’e most welcome :) I’m what ya would call a dog and cat lover (since I have both that would be a fair assumption)..lol…also would never hurt another living creature…(do spiders count???) really really hate spiders…really…
i KILL spiders every chance i get,xcept maybe tarantulas,they r cool{not}.
I am so thankful that we don’t get them over here…(at least I don’t think we do)…we do have trap door spiders…their mean and nasty…I’m tellin ya I’m gonna be that one story in the news about the dead body found in the back yard some old lady dyin of fright :)
u wouldnt die of fright,ude just bite it back if it tried to bite u.theyd be havein to save the fuckin spider,lol
nope….one thing about me, spiders and me do not mix…I’m tellin ya I can spot one on me wall….in the dark…with my eyes closed…lol…I can just sense them…nasty little fuckers..
i live by 1 main rule dont trust any thing that dont have eyelids,eight legs and an additude.the only thing that can have fangs and draw blood is me.lol
I SAY LETS PUT HER IN A CAGE & NOT FEED HER 4 2 WEEKS OR A MONTH LIKE SHE DID THE DOG & THEN SEE IF SHE’S OK
I keep wondering though….if the boyfriend was supposed to be checking up on the animals, why didn’t she make sure? I mean, if I left my cat in someone else’s care, I’d be checking in and making damn sure that she was being fed and given water and allowed to use the restroom and roam around. If I were sick, I’d make someone else go check on the cat. It’s that simple! And was she SOOOOOOOO sick that there was absolutely NO way for her herself to go check in on those animals? I mean, unless she was on her death bed or was a quadripalegic, she could’ve done SOMETHING to make sure the animals were ok.
There are actually a number of details like that to take into consideration. That is a great point to carry up. I offer the ideas above as common inspiration but clearly there are questions just like the one you bring up where the most important factor will likely be working in sincere good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged around things like that, however I am certain that your job is clearly identified as a fair game. Each boys and girls feel the impression of just a second’s pleasure, for the rest of their lives.