The twisted case of animal collector Vikki Kittles offers a look at the psychology of people who feel a compulsion to acquire more animals than they can care for

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Vickie Rene Kittles, also known as Susan Dietrich, was convicted on 42 counts of Animal Neglect in Astoria, Oregon in February 1995 after five weeks of trial, months of delay, and years of suffering for the animals she claimed to love. Kittles has a history of such incidents and is likely to begin the same destructive cycle all over again after she completes her 7-month sentence in Oregon.

Josh Marquis, District Attorney for Clatsop County and the Prosecutor in charge of Kittles' case tells the story below.

The case concluded what some called the world's longest dental appointment without anesthisia. Kittles was able to drag the case out almost two years through endless manipulation of people and the legal system. She was afforded nine different court-appointed lawyers - none of whom met with her satisfaction, and went through six judges. The judge who tried the case was so traumatized that he refuses to have anything further to do with the case or Vickie Kittles.

Kittles, who has a long criminal record of assaultive conduct dating back to the late 60s, surfaced most publically in Broward County Florida in the early 1980s when she was charged with various crimes after neighbors complained about the scores of dogs and two horses she kept in her mother's suburban house. Kittles claimed then - and now - that she is the victim of a massive government conspiracy, somehow tied to the Drug Enforcement Administration, that sought to poison her and "her" dogs.

"As D.A. I usually handle murder cases, and Kittles is in my opinion one of the most dangerous, evil people I have ever encountered. She has enough psychosis to be exasperating, and enough cunning to bend the system to her will. Like any really nasty virus, she should be confronted and stopped before she can ruin more lives - of people and dogs."

She was eventually run out of one part of Florida only to surface in another with her aged mother, Jean Sullivan, who has not been seen since living in filth with her daughter in rural Manatee County, Florida. From there Kittles (alone) went on to Mississippi, where she convinced some good-hearted souls that she would "save" scores of dogs by taking them to a "no-kill" shelter in Colorado.

From Mississippi she fled to Colorado where she once again claimed persecution. She left a wake of well-meaning vets with unpaid bills and sponsors whom she turned on when they failed to give her everything she wanted. From Colorado in the late 80s she travelled to rural Washington where she and "her" digs were delivered by a semi-truck. True to form, she was successful in conning some wealthy backers to send her $15,000 which she used to buy a school bus that became her home, and the prison for over 100 dogs. She once again wrung every bit of kindness - and money - out of her would-be benefactor before accusing her too of being involved in a plot.

"When the dog was autopsied there was absolutely no food in its system or ANY body fat - a sign of long and painful starvation."

She then moved across the Columbia River to rural Clatsop County Oregon where she was finally confronted by Animal Control Supervisor Tommi Brunich on April 16, 1993. Brunich found a positively surreal scene in which Kittles shrieked threats at officers and neigbors while grasping a dog that was continually convulsing. The dog, which had received no veterinary care but that "special knowledge" possesed by Kittles, died despite the best efforts of local vets. When the dog was autposied there was absolutely no food in its system or ANY body fat - a sign of long and painful starvation.

The scene on board the bus was worse - 115 dogs, four cats, and two roosters crammed into a bus caked with urine and feces, stinking so bad that officers used gas masks to go inside. Kittles boasted at trial that she had not let any of the dogs off the bus for weeks to prevent them from getting fleas. The dogs were, however, suffering from almost every other parasite, including hookworm, whipworm, and in at least 16 cases, deadly heartworm.

After Kittles was arrested she threatened to sue anyone who touched "her" dogs. Despite her claims of love for the dogs she visted them only once and actually convinced a judge to FORBID the state from getting medical treatment for any of the dogs.

When I took office in the spring of 1994 Kittles was merrily holding the whole court system hostage, alternately ranting and raving, and filing literally hunndreds of self-styled legal motions. Eventually we got the dogs treated for heartworm, and despite Kittles best efforts to delay the trial, were scheduled to finally go to court on August 2, 1994. Despite strong objections from my office the judge had permitted Kittles to live out of state - just across the river, and when the trial date came, Kittles refused to show up, requiring an extradition fight which took 3 months just to get her back to Oregon.

"Animal collectors are much like drug addicts in their pathology, and much more interested in themselves than 'their' animals."

In a trial that should have taken two days, Kittles berated the judge, me, the witnesses, the jurors, and the audience, and only later in the trial was finally sentenced to spend a total of 71 days in jail for contempt. Kittles used every artifice available to endlessly question witnesses about irrelevant material and when her turn came to give her side, she talked steadily for two and a half days. The jury - often the traget of her accusations of being genetically deficient - took only a couple hours before unanimously convicting her on all 42 counts.

The case drew huge attention from regional media who sent satellite TV trucks to cover the more spectacular parts of the bizzare trial. Kittles is an animal collector, a title she now proudly wears despite the testimony of Humane Society of the United States Vice-President Randy Lockwood that animal collectors are much like drug addicts in their pathology, and much more interested in themselves than "their" animals. She is now serving a seven-month jail sentence which also forbids her from owning or even being around animals. She is likely to leave Oregon when released and will probably start collecting somewhere else in the United States.

As D.A. I usually handle murder cases, and Kittles is in my opinion one of the most dangerous, evil people I have ever encountered. She has enough psychosis to be exasperating, and enough cunning to bend the system to her will. Like any really nasty virus, she should be confronted and stopped before she can ruin more lives - of people and dogs.