An indictment has been made in a Superior Court case involving the former proprietor of a local animal rescue and petting zoo.
Susan Littlejohn, who operated Build an Ark Animal Rescue, was indicted on 10 charges last week. Of those, six are felony aggravated animal cruelty charges. The other four are for misdemeanor cruelty to animals.
Littlejohn was previously arraigned on animal cruelty charges in Gilmer County Magistrate Court, but the case was later transferred to Superior Court.
Gilmer County Animal Control originally brought charges against Littlejohn, who operated Build An Ark near the Eagle Mountain entrance to Cooswattee River Resort, in January 2022. Those charges, which alleged violations of Gilmer County’s animal cruelty ordinance, followed the Department of Agriculture and county animal control inspecting the facility. More cruelty charges were later filed by animal control.
After being transferred to Superior Court, the case was further evaluated and investigated by the District Attorney’s Office, noted B. Alison Sosebee, DA for the Appalachian Judicial Circuit. The case was then presented to the grand jury, which returned a true bill for the 10 charges, which are based on state animal cruelty statutes, added Sosebee. Littlejohn has not yet been arraigned on those charges.
Build an Ark, which was destroyed in a 2011 tornado and later rebuilt through a charitable campaign involving firefighters who responded to the 9/11 attacks in New York, has since ceased operating. The last remaining animals were removed by various animal rescue groups in spring 2022.