State police have filed animal cruelty charges against an East Penn Township woman who they say hoarded more than 50 Yorkshire terriers in her mobile home and in makeshift kennels on her property.

Nancy Lou Bullard, 73, of Kittatinny Lane, is facing 53 counts of animal cruelty - a misdemeanor charge for each animal involved - according to court records. The charges were filed last week, almost four months after police removed 53 animals from her property.Bullard already has a record including an animal cruelty conviction that came after state police reportedly removed 32 dogs from the property in 2013.On Jan. 6 of this year, state police, acting on an anonymous tip, removed 53 dogs - Yorkshire Terriers and Yorkie/Shih Tzu mixes - from Bullard's property. In court documents, police said the dogs were kept in unsanitary conditions inside two dwellings and two makeshift kennels located on the property.According to the arresting officer, trooper Erin Cawley, they were forced to wear protective outerwear and respirators to enter Bullard's residence because of the strong odor of urine and feces inside.Police said they found approximately 30 dogs in her home, with 10 locked in a bedroom, and the rest in cages or roaming the house. Those dogs allegedly had matted hair, and reportedly had fleas and skin conditions.Inside another residence on the property, they found nine dogs in a basement - some in cages, and some roaming freely. Those dogs had matted hair and fleas.Thirteen more dogs were kept outside in dilapidated cages that provided little to no shelter in the winter conditions.All the dogs smelled of urine and feces.State police became aware that Bullard was again housing Yorkshire terriers after an anonymous complaint in late December. In their application for a search warrant, state police said the animals were kept in insufficient conditions to protect them against inclement weather and appeared to have long, matted and wet hair.It is not the first time that state police have charged Bullard with animal cruelty.In 2013, she pleaded guilty to two counts summary counts of animal cruelty and related charges in a case that also involved Yorkshire terriers.The dogs were housed at shelters in Schuylkill, Lehigh and Monroe counties as troopers prepared the charges against Bullard.Cawley noted that the animals were treated for moderate to severe skin infections, moderate to severe matting of the fur, flea dermatitis and other untreated medical conditions.Volunteers at Starting Over Animal Rescue in Schnecksville, where some of the animals were taken, were unavailable to comment on Friday.But back in January, they said that the animals were emotionally and physically neglected."When they came, they were just shy, they would go into a cocoon. When I saw them, I wanted to cry," said Gloria Scheetz of Starting Over Animal Rescue.She reported then that the dogs had been seen by a veterinarian and were being treated for their fleas and matted fur."Now they're like 'we feel so much better,' " Sheetz said in January. "No more fleas, no more bugs."Bullard was charged by subpoena, and will appear in court May 4 for a preliminary hearing before Judge Casimir T. Kosciolek.