Woman charged after firefighters find dogs in motel during fire call

BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Prosecutors charged a woman Tuesday after firefighters found malnourished dogs in a motel room while responding to a fire in September.

Susan Toomey is charged with misdemeanor animal neglect or abandonment.

The fire happened at Midway Budget Inn on Highway 40 on Sept. 24. While investigating, firefighters found a malnourished dog along with her 9 puppies inside a motel room.

According to a probable cause statement, veterinary staff at the Central Missouri Humane Society confirmed the dogs were malnourished from a lack of food and veterinary care.

In the documents, an animal control supervisor said that Toomey refused to tell them where she lived and has had a tendency in the past to not follow through with requests from animal control agencies.

The sprinkler system contained the fire to a guest room and no was injured.

At the time of the fire, Animal Control Supervisory Molly Aust said that authorities hard already been looking into the situation after receiving complaints.

Firefighters at the scene said that a total of 18 dogs were in the room.