Woman Investigated Again On Animal Cruelty Charges - WHNT

A woman arrested on animal cruelty charges in March is in trouble again. Madison County Deputies raided Laura Lifer's property earlier this year, now her business is under the microscope again.

[concerned citizen]

i know for a fact that at the court hearing, Laura recieved $1,700 dollars in fines and is only allowed to have one dog and one cat for the next four years. A few days after the court hearing, Mrs. Lifer snuck back to some land she had been renting, and stole some horses, miniature ponies, and a miniature bull she know longer had custody of anymore. When will this person be stopped!?!?

[Concerned Pet Lover]

Why in the world is this place open? If this is how she cares for her own pets, how in the world can she be allowed to care for others pets? Why in the world do people keep taking their dogs to this place?

[Pet groomer]

Women like this give us all a black eye. I promise, most dog groomers, such as myself, are very caring professionals.

CLOSE THIS WOMAN DOWN.

[kitten]

please tell me how mnay of you have dogs with fleas?... EVERY dog gets worms at some point. Its a bullshit charge! I know for a fact his woman NEVER hurt an animal!
Working as a groomer, I can honestly say Ive seen dogs in worse condition. Ive had dogs come in so matted that maggots were eating away at the skin. Did I turn that owner in? NO! That would mean the poor dog would be taken by animal control and put to sleep. That's the hard truth behind them. Sure, the owners get whats coming to them, but its overall not good for the animal.
It hurts to see how many of you guys are so ignorant about what really goes on!

[not_important]

i know for a fact this woman Has hurt animals.. i saw the animals dead from starvation on her property because she was boarding more animals than she could afford to feed. she is more concerned with making money than the well being of these poor animals.

kitten wrote:

please tell me how mnay of you have dogs with fleas?... EVERY dog gets worms at some point. Its a **** charge! I know for a fact his woman NEVER hurt an animal!
Working as a groomer, I can honestly say Ive seen dogs in worse condition. Ive had dogs come in so matted that maggots were eating away at the skin. Did I turn that owner in? NO! That would mean the poor dog would be taken by animal control and put to sleep. That's the hard truth behind them. Sure, the owners get whats coming to them, but its overall not good for the animal.
It hurts to see how many of you guys are so ignorant about what really goes on!

[Eaglefeather]

I say treat her like she treats the animals

[Kiss This]

She looks pretty good for her age.

[Supporter]

Ms. Lifer has saved MANY discarded animals and placed them in good homes over the years. She works very hard at her business and has hundreds of satisfied customers. I am a very responsible and caring pet owner, and my dog had parasites this year due to an unuusally difficult flea season.

[Pet owner]

there is a difference between fleas and starving animals. She should not be able to run a pet business. Ask the rescue groups that took her animals what kind of shape they were in,

[ANIMAL LOVER]

Supporter wrote:

Ms. Lifer has saved MANY discarded animals and placed them in good homes over the years. She works very hard at her business and has hundreds of satisfied customers. I am a very responsible and caring pet owner, and my dog had parasites this year due to an unuusally difficult flea season.

It really doesn't matter how many animals you save you're letting almost the same amount of animals DIE OF STARVATION and SLEEP LYING IN THEIR OWN URINE. COME ON PEOPLE, WOULD YOU LET MICHAEL VICK BOARD AND GROOM YOUR PUPPY AFTER HIS CGARGES?? Think about it...

[Another Pet Lover]

I know Laura Lifer. I can assure you that she does love animals very much! However she simply is unable to control her compulsion to hoard them. Because she does love animals Laura ends up taking in more animals than she can possibly adequately care for. Of course Laura very much wants to care for all of them; she wants every one of her animals to receive proper care. However one person can only adequately care for but so many, and because of her compulsion she exceeds those limits. These same behaviors are common in animal hoarders.

[animal advocate]

kitten wrote:

please tell me how mnay of you have dogs with fleas?... EVERY dog gets worms at some point. Its a **** charge! I know for a fact his woman NEVER hurt an animal!
Working as a groomer, I can honestly say Ive seen dogs in worse condition. Ive had dogs come in so matted that maggots were eating away at the skin. Did I turn that owner in? NO! That would mean the poor dog would be taken by animal control and put to sleep. That's the hard truth behind them. Sure, the owners get whats coming to them, but its overall not good for the animal.
It hurts to see how many of you guys are so ignorant about what really goes on!

I know for a fact that she has been starving her horses and other livestock since the drought in 2006. I have pictures to prove it. Those animals that starved to death had been dying a slow and agonizing death for YEARS. In winter of 2008 she did buy one round bale of hay and left it outside the gate so the horses and other animals could see it but not eat it. She had a mare for 28 years and let her starve to death, then she covered her lifeless emaciated body with a sheet and went on an 80 mile trail ride on another starving (and pregnant) mare. And many animals were in cages when they starved including a cat for god's sake. I'm sure that cat could've survived without being rescued by Lifer. She is a animal collector/hoarder NOT AN ANIMAL LOVER. Please if you make as much money as she does, you can provide parasite prevention for your animals. She had a few dogs with mange and provided no medical care for them. She once had 2 artic foxes in a cage and let them starve to death. One of her miniature horses had an eye kicked out and she never called a vet. If you think she is an animal lover she has you fooled like she fooled me long ago. All she cares about is herself and having a horse that she can ride to death. Her probation clearly states that she is not allowed to own animals except one cat and one dog (god help the cat & dog)so if she had dogs at her business then she is in violation of the judge's ruling. If you ask me i think she should be put in a cage and starved to death. God help the animals that are still in her posession (and believe me they are her "posessions"), i can only pray they will be confiscated or death will come swiftly.

[animal advocate]

she was not boarding livestock, only dogs at KK&Co. on pratt ave in huntsville, al. All the livestock was hers she collected. Since her sentencing she has sold her farm in Toney, AL and moved to McBurg, TN. She moved most of the animals to TN before her court date. She is hiding them there. If you know where these animals are please report it to authorities because they are in peril. THEY WILL NOT MAKE IT THROUGH THE WINTER. They still have not been eating anything except weeds since her arrest last spring. Most of them have also had foals since her arrest. She had the brilliant idea to turn a stallion in with her mares during the drought while they were malnourished and infested with parasites. The stallion was confiscated when she was arrested, very near starvation himself. He has been placed in a good home and is very well cared for now. Why the other 50+ animals were not confiscated is mind boggling. She is just going to continue this hoarding behavior wherever she goes. If you care about animals, you must report abuse, neglect, and hoarding to authorities.

[Concerned Animal Lover]

Are you certain Laura Lifer is now in McBurg, TN? If she is hiding animals, then clearly she has violated her court order. Should the authorities in TN be notified?

[customer-before arrest]

How can she be allowed to baby-sit animals after such a conviction. You would NEVER leave your children with a proven child abuser. I had my grooming done there after her arrest because I did not KNOW and assumed the police would have protected me from such a facility. Additionally, when I had my grooming done at her facility I told her where I boarded my pets and she "bad mouthed" them. The facility I use is family ran and I have been able to drive by and see my animals after leaving them etc. Laura's facility did not seem to be built for the purpose as there were no drains etc.... I don't understand how she could show her face after the initial charges...and then to bad mouth the other facility.....you know whats sad, the other faciility took up for her saying they knew her and felt some of the initial charges may have been trumpted. Even after being told what she said about them they would not talk bad about her...now that is class and the type of person I want caring for my four legged children.

[animal advocate]

Concerned Animal Lover wrote:

Are you certain Laura Lifer is now in McBurg, TN? If she is hiding animals, then clearly she has violated her court order. Should the authorities in TN be notified?

yes i am certain. animal services in huntsville and madison co. were instructed to inform TN authorities, whether they did or not is questionable. it's interesting to note that when animal services were called on her animals in fall of 2007 they did nothing even though the pasture was clearly over crowded, there was no hay or feed, and some of the horses were already showing signs of malnutrition. One mare was clearly emaciated (the one she was riding the most at that time). As you know, they did not die until early this year so they had a very long agonizing starvation period. Some of the people with animal services are her friends and would either cover for her or give her warning as to visits to her properties. They are just as guilty as her in the death of these animals.

[animal advocate]

customer-before arrest wrote:

How can she be allowed to baby-sit animals after such a conviction. You would NEVER leave your children with a proven child abuser. I had my grooming done there after her arrest because I did not KNOW and assumed the police would have protected me from such a facility. Additionally, when I had my grooming done at her facility I told her where I boarded my pets and she "bad mouthed" them. The facility I use is family ran and I have been able to drive by and see my animals after leaving them etc. Laura's facility did not seem to be built for the purpose as there were no drains etc.... I don't understand how she could show her face after the initial charges...and then to bad mouth the other facility.....you know whats sad, the other faciility took up for her saying they knew her and felt some of the initial charges may have been trumpted. Even after being told what she said about them they would not talk bad about her...now that is class and the type of person I want caring for my four legged children.

good question. why wasn't her business license revoked? i have heard that she is going to let someone else run her business in huntsville and is going to open another grooming business in TN. It is typical behavior of hoarders to move when they get in trouble and "start over" somewhere else. unfortunately, their behavior does not change. I believe therapy should have been part of her sentence. I also believe there is a desparate need for ASPCA animal cops in this area and also stricter laws for abuse, neglect, and torture of animals. Her animals were tortured by starvation and all she got is a slap on the wrist. The ruling that she is not allowed to own animals is not going to help if it is not enforced.

[concerned citizen]

Animal Advocate, could you please send me e-mail at [e-mail]. Thank you.