Indiana farm owner arrested after 28 dead alpacas found on property

OWEN COUNTY — The owner of SuPaca Farms in Gosport has pleaded not guilty to charges after 28 dead alpacas were found on the property earlier this year.

Sue Childers, 77, of Indianapolis faces charges of cruelty to an animal and failure to properly dispose of a dead animal.

According to an affidavit, a necropsy found that one of the alpacas named Harriet was emaciated.

Deputies say other animals were in poor health and severely malnourished. Seven alpacas, three llamas, nine dogs, three chickens, and two horses were seized from the property and taken to the Owen County Humane Society.

The affidavit says Childers told investigators she thought bobcats were killing and eating her alpacas but later thought they were poisoned.

"Sue advised that at some point during the summer/fall of 2021 she lost of large number other heard. She believed them to have been poisoned and stated that she came to that conclusion because the alpacas had died in a large group together," the affidavit read.

Childers also said that she stopped visiting the farm daily in February 2021 after getting COVID-19. She didn't start visiting again on a regular basis until the fall of 2021.

Childers is out on bond and she has pleaded not guilty, online court records show. A jury trial is scheduled for June 7.