79 animals rescued in Ste. Gen Co.

Authorities said the animals had little or no food and were living in unsanitary conditions.

STE. GENEVIEVE COUNTY -- To Sheriff Gary Stolz, Adele Rehm is a sympathetic if misguided character -- someone who is compelled to take in every animal that she comes across, but one who lacks the means or the mindset to properly care for them.

"She collects animals, she's not a criminal," Stolz said. "She's not intentionally abusing them. She wants them, but she has no way to provide for them."

Still, Rehm, 48, of Ste. Genevieve, was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with animal neglect and abuse after authorities removed 79 animals from property she owns near Bloomsdale.

The Humane Society of Missouri and the Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff's Department rescued 35 pot-bellied pigs, 15 goats, seven donkeys, six sheep, 11 cats, a dog, a horse, a llama and two peacocks. They discovered the corpses of another llama and a peacock that had recently died, as well as the remains of eight other animals that had been dead for some time.

"It's very disheartening for us to find some of them dead," said Debbie Hill, the Humane Society's director of rescues and investigations. "If we'd just gotten here a few days earlier. For them, our rescue came too late."

Hill said that the animals had little or no food and were living in unsanitary conditions with inadequate shelter. The property was littered with trash, buckets, spoiled food, mounds of clothes and other debris.

The 18 Humane Society workers carried the smaller animals and used rope to lead the larger ones through the rubbish to five trailers.

"The animals were very happy to see us coming toward them," Hill said. "They were very eager to think they would be offered something to eat or have some socialization. They were so isolated. It looked like they had been forgotten about."

The animals were taken to the Humane Society's Longmeadow Ranch in Union, Mo., for medical care and will remain there at least until Rehm's July 27 disposition hearing. There, a judge will decide whether the Humane Society will be granted custody of the animals.

"If we get custody, we want to find them happy homes," Hill said.

Authorities three months ago obtained a warrant for animals under Rehm's care. In April, officers responded to a complaint and removed 11 dogs from Rehm's condemned residence in Ste. Genevieve. They called the living conditions there "deplorable."

That incident led to Tuesday's arrest and recovery.

Hill agreed with Stolz, saying she could see a pattern of collecting items that others would probably throw away.

"Even the junk seemed to purposefully sort of kept and stored," Hill said. "Some of the animals were wandering amongst all that mess. But animal neglect falls under our criminal code and is considered a crime. We believe in companion pets. They're not just a collection to be added to everything else."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137