Complaint: Wisconsin woman allowed adult dogs to eat puppies

The 52-year-old charged with 156 counts animal mistreatment.

CRANDON, Wis. — Authorities say a Wisconsin woman allowed adult dogs to eat puppies and a horse carcass, and that her home had up to 2 feet of dog droppings on the floor. 

Forest County District Attorney Chuck Simono charged 52-year-old Patty Kirker on Wednesday with 156 counts related to animal mistreatment about a month after authorities seized dozens of dogs, wolf-dog hybrids and horses from her property in Crandon in northeastern Wisconsin. Six counts are felonies. 

According to the criminal complaint, a witness told police she saw adult dogs eating young puppies on the property. Authorities think the dogs turned to other sources of food after Kirker failed to feed them properly. 

Kirker’s sister and neighbor, Casey Carpenter, told WJFW-TV four to five horses and a pony have died on Kirker’s property since last summer.

“Then she feeds the bodies [of the horses] to those dogs,” Carpenter said. “There’s no evidence [of the dead horses], because the dogs eat them.”

Defense attorney Jay Kronenwetter said the allegations are untrue and overblown. He says they’ll fight the charges.