St. Charles County protesters name for extra severe expenses in deaths of canine, cat

ST. CHARLES COUNTY — About a dozen protesters gathered outdoors the St. Charles County Courthouse on Friday to name for justice for Gloria and Poodles.

The two pets — a canine and a cat — died ugly deaths whereas within the care of a pet sitter this yr. Protesters referred to as for lawmakers to rewrite the state’s animal abuse legal guidelines, which they are saying allowed the sitter to flee felony expenses after the animals died in April — the canine by stab wounds, and the cat by an undetermined reason for loss of life that included damaged ribs.

A St. Charles County grand jury indicted Alicia Moellering, of O’Fallon, on two counts of animal neglect and two counts of drug possession final month. Investigators mentioned she had a “giant amount” of fentanyl and drug paraphernalia. The drug possession expenses are felonies, and the animal neglect expenses are misdemeanors. 

But Friday’s protesters mentioned these expenses aren’t sufficient. 

“This was a violent act. These animals had been stabbed. That’s not neglect. That’s homicide,” mentioned St. Louis resident Sasha Zemmel, one of many protest organizers. 

In a press release, St. Charles County Prosecutor Joseph McCulloch mentioned that the deaths had been a “tragic and unhappy occasion” however that his workplace could not file felony expenses within the animals’ deaths as a result of their our bodies had been too decomposed for consultants to find out if the stab wounds had been inflicted earlier than or after they died. 

Moellering couldn’t be reached for remark. Her lawyer, Greg Smith, mentioned he was ready to defend the fees “vigorously.”

O’Fallon police mentioned Moellering, 24, agreed to look at her stepmother’s pets whereas her stepmother was in Mexico for trip. 

The stepmother, Tommie Love, often checked in on the animals utilizing a home safety system, and he or she grew suspicious when she noticed solely one among her two dogs on the feed. She by no means noticed Gloria, a 4-year-old doodle, or Poodles, her stray cat.

Love’s son, Nathan Durfee, mentioned he went to the home to research after a late-night name together with his mom. Inside, he mentioned he discovered one of many dogs in its kennel. But he additionally discovered dried blood splattered throughout the ground and blood-stained towels within the household’s washer. 

“At that time, I used to be solely attempting to determine what had occurred there, as a result of I did not know and even suppose that Alicia was able to one thing like this,” Durfee mentioned Friday.

Moellering modified her story just a few instances when she was pressed for solutions, Durfee mentioned, earlier than ultimately telling him the cat had died and he or she put it in a dumpster behind a gasoline station. 

“It was simply one other lie from her in the long run,” Durfee mentioned. “She was continually altering her story.”

Durfee seen a scent close to his stepsister’s automobile and ultimately discovered each animals lifeless inside. 

“I smelled a whiff of rotting flesh — and that is a scent that after you’ve got smelled it, you instantly know what it’s,” mentioned Durfee.

Moellering advised police she discovered the cat already lifeless and that she discovered the canine barely respiratory after returning to the home after being away for a day. She put the canine in entrance of a fan and went to work, she advised police, and the canine was lifeless when she returned. 

“Moellering admitted that she freaked out after being irresponsible and didn’t know what to do, so she placed the canine and feline in her automobile,” O’Fallon police wrote in courtroom information.

An post-mortem of the 2 pets revealed that Gloria’s loss of life was brought on by two small puncture wounds. The reason for loss of life for Poodles couldn’t be decided, however authorities famous the cat had fractured ribs.

Among the attendees of Friday’s protest was St. Ann resident Denise Behrle, of St. Ann, who watched Gloria herself for years. She urged McCulloch, the prosecutor, to revisit the case. 

“I’d like to ask Mr. McCulloch if he had a canine, and urge him to take a look at that canine and to consider Gloria,” she mentioned. “To take into consideration the struggling that she went by as a result of this horrible monster.”