Starving animals found in Essex, Mo., house

ESSEX, Mo. -- A real estate agent inspecting a recently foreclosed house in rural Stoddard County said she discovered four starving dogs and two emaciated cats abandoned by the former owners.Tricia Carroll of Poplar Bluff, Mo., found the animals Monday, separated into several rooms of the house along County Road 732 southeast of Essex. "From what I can see, it looks like their intentions were for them to die in the house, like they are trying to get back at the mortgage company."The animals were "skin and bones," said Carroll, who will join Lanette Baker, director of the Sikeston Area Humane Society, today to rescue the animals and document their living conditions.

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