Attorney General is also seeking Civil Action against McAlmond
On Wednesday, puppy miller Marlisa McAlmond was charged with 21 counts of criminal animal abuse, two felony criminal counts for unlawfully euthanizing dogs, and one count of canine cruelty. Read the press release here.
McAlmond had flouted a recent court order instructing her to surrender her dogs to the state so that the animals could be given to shelters and rescues. McAlmond did relinquish many of her dogs to the state which fortunately enabled them to be adopted into loving homes for the first time in their lives. Yet, McAlmond transferred 60 dogs to other commercial dog breeders and euthanized 21 of the dogs in blatant defiance of the court order.
Shockingly, in the past, other puppy millers have also killed their dogs rather than surrendering them to the state as instructed to do so by the Court. These dogs were thus deprived of spending their final years in a caring home. Just last year, a puppy miller in Missouri, who was being closed down by the state, killed some of her dogs, simply for spite, rather than allowing them to be transferred to rescues and shelters. Another puppy miller, who is facing trial in November for animal neglect, has already warned the Court that she would never surrender her dogs to a shelter or rescue.
The Alliance is gratified that the Attorney General is finally taking action against substandard dog breeders, not only in closing them down, but by protecting the surviving dogs so they have an opportunity to spend their final years in a loving home. “This breeder has proven time and again that she cannot responsibly breed dogs, and she must be held accountable for unnecessarily euthanizing dogs which had been transferred to the state by court order,” said Attorney General Schmitt.
The Missouri Attorney General on behalf of the Missouri Department of Agriculture had recently obtained a consent judgment against Marlisa McAlmond d/b/a Cedar Ridge Australians. The Attorney General had charged that Cedar Ridge had failed to provide adequate veterinary care to its animals, failed to provide adequate housing, and failed to provide the animals with adequate health and husbandry measures. Cedar Ridge had also been cited for unsanitary living conditions and on several occasions cited for not providing drinking water for its animals.
Your efforts in contacting Attorney General Eric Schmitt are paying off.
