Charges filed against alleged hoarder

UNION, Mo. -- Charges have been filed against an eastern Missouri woman accused of hoarding hundreds of dogs, cats and other animals.

Charges against Gloria Sutter, 67, of Union, were contained in a grand jury indictment handed up last week. The indictment charges Sutter with six counts of animal abuse and two counts of failing to dispose of a dead animal. All the counts are misdemeanors.

Sutter is accused of hoarding the animals on 22 acres of land she owns near St. Clair and in her apartment in Union.

Authorities rescued more than 200 animals Aug. 3 from the site near St. Clair, and another 55 animals Aug. 9 from Sutter's apartment. Animals were kept in small cages, investigators said, and the buildings where they were kept were infested with rats.

Seized were 118 dogs, 136 cats, a duck, a goose, a guinea fowl, a horse, a pony and a mule.

Under a court agreement, Sutter transferred ownership to the Missouri Humane Society. In exchange, the organization agreed not to pursue a civil action.

Sutter has been accused of hoarding before. Investigators found 527 cats and dogs during a raid on her farm in 1984.

In 1986, Humane Society officials conducted another raid and found 770 animals on the farm, most of them cats and dogs. Sutter faced three counts of animal abuse, but the charges were later dropped.