A Columbia dog breeder who is charged with 22 felony counts of animal abuse is facing a sweeping civil lawsuit.
939 the Eagle’s Mike Murphy, who publishes Comobuz, reports more than a dozen plaintiffs from across the nation and overseas have filed the lawsuit, alleging years of neglect, deception and abuse that led to the starvation, injury and deaths of numerous dogs.
The petition was filed this week in Boone County Circuit Court and names Magnum Opus German Shepherds and owner Melissa Sanders as defendants. Mike Murphy reports the plaintiffs include Missourians and residents from states like Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota, Colorado and from Northern Ireland as well.
The 26-year-old Sanders remains jailed without bond in Boone County, and her next court hearing is set for Tuesday morning at 9:30 before Boone County Circuit Judge Joshua Calvin Devine.
The Boone County Sheriff Department’s graphic three-page probable cause statement reports authorities allegedly found four dead dogs on the outside of Sanders’ home in November along with about a dozen dog skulls in black garbage bags. Graphic court documents also say an unknown number of dead dogs were found in garbage bags, covered in maggots.