Ex-teacher testifies in starving cat trial

BOCA RATON, FL-- A jury is expected to begin deliberating the fate of former Palm Beach County teacher Allison Dinsmore Thursday. She's on trial for animal cruelty in connection with the starvation deaths of her two cats.

She took the stand Wednesday with hopes of convincing the panel that she would never intentionally harm her pets, named Speedo and Gizzy.

She says she didn't return home to her Boca Raton apartment to tend to them because she was afraid of an ex-boyfriend.

"I was scared the whole time looking out the window," Dinsmore said as she took the stand.  "Is he showing up at this point? Is he going to be there, because I didn't know and  I was even scared sometimes to go in."

With the help of a reenactment from her attorney Jordan Lewin, Dinsmore spent more than an hour painting a picture of a scared woman whose ex-boyfriend had emotionally abused her, although she never reported the abuse to authorities.

Dinsmore, who was nominated as teacher of the year while teaching special education, was arrested last April on charges of animal cruelty. 

Reports show she left her two cats alone in a Boca Raton apartment without food or water for months while she lived with a new boyfriend.   She kept claiming she just lost track of time.

"I loved my cats," she said.  "I just didn't know who to turn to that would help them."

Reports show when the animals were finally found, they had literally tried scratching through the walls in a desperate attempt for food, and their skeletons were found stuck to empty plates.

Authorities say they died a slow, painful death. 

Dinsmore faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

"It was not intentional," Dinsmore said

In order to get the felony animal cruelty conviction, rather than a misdemeanor charge, the state has to prove it was an intentional act.