Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that Cheektowaga Town Court Justice John Wanat has found 38-year-old Shermika A. Walker of Buffalo guilty of one count of Confinement of Companion Animals in Vehicles: Extreme Temperatures (violation under New York Agriculture and Markets Law). Judge Wanat rendered his decision yesterday afternoon following a two-hour, non-jury trial.
On Wednesday, June 15, 2022, Cheektowaga Police and Cheektowaga Animal Control officers responded to a 911 call for a report of a dog in distress inside of a parked vehicle at a plaza on Union Road. When officers arrived at the scene, the dog was seizing and vomiting due to the heat inside of the vehicle.
The defendant’s dog, an 8-year-old male Boston Terrier mix, was removed from the vehicle and taken to a veterinary emergency clinic to be treated for severe heatstroke. The dog was briefly held in the custody of the SPCA Serving Erie County, but was returned to the defendant. On June 29, 2022, our office requested that the Court impose a no animal order at the defendant’s arraignment, which was denied by the Town Justice previously assigned to the case.
Walker faces a maximum of 15 days in jail when she is sentenced on Tuesday, September 5, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. She remains released on her own recognizance as the charge is a non-qualifying offense for bail.
DA Flynn commends the Cheektowaga Police Department, Town of Cheektowaga Animal Control, SPCA Serving Erie County and SPCA Animal Cruelty Investigator William Heine for their work in this investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Stephen C. Papia of the Justice Courts Bureau.
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