Oklahoma Mom Arrested For Starving Kids, Forcing Them To Eat Dog Feces

JAY, OK — An Oklahoma mom has been arrested after police say she was starving her two children and had forced them to eat dog feces.

Mary Elizabeth Moore, 34, of rural Delaware County, is being held behind bars on $100,000 bond for two counts of felony child neglect.

The two children, ages five and three, were rushed to the hospital. Police say the five-year-old weighed just 26 pounds and the three-year-old weighed just 18 pounds.

Medical attendants described the children as so severely malnourished that “that hospital staff had to place them on a special diet and applied nasal feeding tubes.” The children are now in protective state custody.

According to the arrest affidavit, Moore had previously been investigated multiple times by the Department of Human Services (DHS) for child neglect. The document states, “DHS records indicate a long withstanding history of failure to thrive cases brought up against Mary [Moore].”

The affidavit goes on to report that one of Moore’s children “had pinworms in her stool” and told an investigator “she gets spanked for hitting and laughing.”

Delaware County Undersheriff Tracy Shaw explained the probable source of the pinworms, stating, “While DHS was at the hospital and speaking with one of the children, the child disclosed that she was allegedly being fed dog feces.”

The five year old also reportedly said that Moore’s boyfriend “sometimes throws bottles” at the three year old.

Moore reportedly denied all claims of abuse. The affidavit claims that when confronted with the allegations, Moore stormed out of the interview.

Shaw added, “This is definitely an extreme case of child neglect, one of the worst that I've seen…. If somebody had not reported this, the hospital records and the child-abuse expert that examined them in Tulsa stated that they would probably be dead.”

Read more: KFOR, Tulsa World, CBS 17