The owners of the horses, Kevin Parkhurst Jr. and Delmar Hopkins, were both arraigned at Keene District Court. The state brought forward 10 charges of cruelty to animals — 7 against Hopkins and 3 against Parkhurst — one for each horses seized.

Neighbors complained there were malnourished horses at 74 Old Westport Road.

   (Photo courtesy of NH SPCA)

Initially the 2 men were charged with class B misdemeanors but the state upped the charges to Class A misdemeanors, which carry stiffer penalties, according to testimony at the arraignment hearing at Keene District Court.  A Class A misdemeanors, meaning the men face possible jail time and a fine of as much as $2,000 for each one.

Parkhurst said after the hearing that not enough investigation went into determining whether the horses were malnourished.  “Some horses carry their weight different from others,” Parkhurst said, adding that the veterinarian called to examine the horses determined they had food.

Parkhurst also said that people have been coming by his property shining headlights onto his remaining horse at all hours of the night.

Hopkins said he felt bad about the situation. He surrendered all of his horses, 4 of which he said were in good shape and 3 of which he said were losing weight, to the SPCA.

He said he was looking to sell them and find them a better home because he could not afford them anymore, but had been unable to find a buyer.  “It’s tough,” he said. “It’s like giving up your kids.”

Both were released on $5,000 personal recognizance with bail stipulations not to talk to one another about the case or acquire other animals as the case proceeds.

Parkhurst has a court date of Nov. 8 and Hopkins has a court date of Nov. 23.

Update 11/2/10:  Winchester police executed a search warrant of the property at 74 Old Westport Road, commonly known as the Cascade Ranch, where 12 horses were kept in stables.

The investigation found 10 horses suffering from hunger and neglect. There was also no shelter for them on the property. NH State Law requires shelter for equines from November 1 until April 15.

  (Photo courtesy of Larry St. Laurent/WMUR News 9)

Dr. Stephen C. Major of the Chesterfield-based Green Mountain Bovine & Equine Clinic and Steven Sprowl, a field services manager for the NH SPCA, inspected the horses and ruled that 10 were in imminent danger.

The seized horses were taken to an SPCA facility in Stratham. They will be kept there until the matter is settled in court.  The owner of 3 of the horses say the horses were not in danger and he'll fight to get them back.

The owner of 7 others say they’ve fallen on hard times and were doing the best they could to care for the horses, but had been trying to get rid of some for the last few months. Three families rent space for horses on the property. Wendy Truehart and her fiancee, Kevin Parkhurst Jr., own 4 horses on the property, and police seized 3 of them. Truehart said the family only moved to the property in August and before that the animals had been kept at a 23-acre property in Winchester where they could graze on grass. The couple had 6 horses when they moved to the 4-acre Old Westport Road property, but sold one and another — a 25-year-old — had to be euthanized after it fell and injured a hip this fall, Truehart said.

With little grass to graze, the remaining horses lost weight and the couple had been trying to get their weight back up by feeding them 2 bales of hay per day and a pound of grain each per day, Truehart said. “I can understand that people are irritated because this property 2 times in a row has had people who haven’t taken care of their horses,” she said. “But that’s not us. “We felt guilty that our horses were the only ones being fed, and if I’d had more money I would have helped the other horses, but I can’t afford to do that.”  Truehart said she plans to fight to get the horses back.

Delmar and Linda Hopkins own 7 of the seized horses. Delmar Hopkins said his job as a carpenter hasn’t supported that many horses for a while and for the last few months he’s been trying to find another owner for 3 of them. He brought 2 round bales of hay to the property a couple months ago and that supply recently ran out, he said. “My animals come before I do, and that’s the way it is,” he said. “This is one of them situations where there was nothing I could do. “I was doing the best I could, but of all those people that complained, none of them came over and said, ‘Hey, are you having trouble with feed?’

Hopkins said he plans to talk with SPCA officials to try to get some of the horses back. He’ll offer others up to a good home, he said. In the days before the seizure, a Facebook group started by local concerned residents cropped up. It included photographs of the horses and descriptions of their conditions. Looking at the body condition of the horses, Major said he could tell by their U-shaped necks, hip bones sticking out and sunken-in areas around the tail head that these horses were malnourished. Major was familiar with the property; he euthanized an older horse there in the spring.

It was increasingly apparent as the year progressed that the horses were in bad shape, he said. The dry weather in August hurt grass growth, which the horses had been using as a source of food, and that caused a problem for the crowded pastures, Major said. Major has worked in the area for 21 years and never participated in a seizure of horses before. He said that this is not because the conditions of mistreatment are rare, but that it is rare to have a place to hold the animals while they are found better homes. The NH SPCA is filling this role.

Phillips said that without the SPCA’s involvement, the situation would be even more difficult, because the department doesn’t have the resources to deal with large-animal seizures. “(SPCA officials) understand the dilemma these towns are in because we’re not equipped for it,” he said. “We don’t have the resources, but the way the state laws are written it comes back to us.”

The SPCA is seeking donations for the care of the animals while they are in custody, he said. Phillips expects to see animal neglect issues increase, he said. “I think what is going on is you’ve got the culmination of people that love these animals but can’t afford the upkeep,” he said. “For a police officer to make the determination that an animal is in imminent danger, it’s very hard and that’s why we got a veterinarian involved. “The goal, right now, is to make sure these animals are safe.”

Update 11/5/10:  Horses with rotten coats and skin, whose teeth had been worn down to nubs from chewing on rocks for sustenance are slowly being nursed back to health, said Sheila E. Ryan, Director of Development and Marketing for the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Meanwhile, two men are facing criminal animal cruelty charges in connection with the treatment of the 10 horses seized from Cascade Ranch.

Seized were 4 Paints, 1 Morgan, 2 Quarter-horses, 2 Appaloosas and 1 Arabian. Two horses were left on the ranch, and it's unclear who is caring for these horses.

The owner of the property according to town records is Mario DeCarlo of Massachusetts. Tenants rent apartments at Cascade Ranch, which provides opportunities for their animals to board. But it does not appear the property owner knew what was going on at the ranch or who was in charge of care, said Asst. Cheshire County Prosecutor Jay McCormack. The investigation is ongoing.

Parkhurst said his horses were in good health, although 50 to 100 pounds underweight.  "I do not feel I neglected any horses," Parkhurst said. He said he fed each of his horses a pound of grain daily, and the 4 split one bale of hay in the morning and another in the evening. In the meantime, there was some grass in the pastures for the horses to graze, he said. He said the quality of hay this year is poor, which explains their weight issue.

But those caring for the horses now at the SPCA are telling a different story.  Ryan said they are visibly emaciated with hips and ribs showing through their matted, "rain-rotting" coat.  "When horses are not well nourished, their coats are no longer water repellent," Ryan said. "Water seeps into the coat, soaking it."  It then grows a fungus and pustules form.  The teeth on many of the horses, which range in age from yearling to elderly, were ground down, keeping them from grazing normally.  "Typically when horses are starving they start chewing on whatever they can find: stones or rocks or trees or barn doors, they'll chew on whatever," Ryan said.  The horses' hooves are also overgrown and many of the horses are believed to have internal parasites.

“Their hooves haven’t seen a farrier in a long time,” said Suzanne Bryant, Farm Animal Coordinator of the New Hampshire SPCA.  The NH SPCA is feeding the animals cautiously in hopes of helping them regain their strength, while trying to guard against colic, a dangerous, sometimes life-threatening condition which can be brought on by feeding too quickly an animal that has become malnourished.

Ryan said the horses are doing OK, but have a long way to go.  "They have figured out that food is a pretty good thing," she said. "They are still listless and depressed but they are getting their bearings."  Ryan said a scheduled vet check had to be postponed because of the rain.

Parkhurst and Hopkins were arraigned in Keene District Court, but the process could take anywhere from 6 months to a year to come to completion, Ryan said.  In the meantime, the SPCA has taken on the responsibility and cost, upwards of $500 per month, per horse.

Update 11/6/10:  Asst. Cheshire County Attorney Jay McCormack testified that in mid-October a veterinarian was called out to the ranch for an emergency euthanization of a horse. The vet, who already had concerns over the living conditions of the horses, was called out the ranch again a week later for another emergency euthanization.   The vet contacted police, and police got a search warrant for the ranch.

"Three of the horses are in pretty bad shape, I won't deny that," Hopkins said after the hearing. "But the rest of the horses are in pretty good shape."

Hopkins, like Parkhurst, rents an apartment and stable space at the 40-acre ranch from a landlord. Hopkins said the stables and land have been in disrepair for awhile. He said he's put his own money into trying to fix them up, but more work needed to be done. He said he asked the landlord for a reduction in rent in exchange for the work but the landlord refused.

Hopkins has surrendered his horses to the state, but still has to go through the criminal hearing process. He said his initial intent when he bought the horses 4 years ago was to start a trail walking and tack business. But then the bottom fell out of the economy and he didn't have the money to get started.  "I feel bad about the horses," he said. "It's like having your own kids ripped away from you."

Parkhurst, Jr. & Hopkins are saying they are innocent.  Both men were released on $5,000 personal recognizance bail.

Reference: