Unlicensed Missouri dog breeder charged with animal abuse
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed 24 criminal charges against an unlicensed dog breeder in southern Missouri.
Schmitt announced Thursday that Marlisa McAlmond, who runs Cedar Ridge Australians in Oregon County, has been charged with 21 counts of animal abuse, two counts of felony damage and one count of animal cruelty.
Schmitt alleges that McAlmond killed 21 dogs that she had been ordered to surrender to the state.
Schmitt had filed a lawsuit earlier alleging McAlmond's operation was substandard and she was working with an expired license.
He alleges McAlmond had agreed to surrender 84 dogs, but instead killed 21 of them and transferred 60 others to third parties.
