In April 1994, Fern Clark, 64, was arrested and transported to jail in Wiscasset after officials seized 61 dogs and puppies and 20 cats and kittens at her home. She was charged with cruelty to animals but cleared of the charge in November. She was, however, convicted of assault charges for throwing a cordless phone at state Humane Agent Loraine Nickerson.

  (Photo courtesy of WCSH 6)  In November of 1994, the state, minding Clark's animals, returned 90 dogs and 20 cats to her.

Update 1/19/08:  Maine animal welfare officials are working with New Hampshire authorities, following the arrest of a woman in Salem, N.H. with 22 dogs in her car, including three dead animals.

The woman, 32-year-old Amy Moolic of Dracut, Mass., told Salem police she had rescued 12 of the dogs the previous night from a "puppy mill" in Somerville, about 15 miles east of Augusta. (see casefile at AMoolic)

(Photo's courtesy of the Salem NH Animal Rescue League - just a few of the dogs seized

from Amy Moolic/Fern Clark)

Norma Worley, director of Maine's animal welfare program, said she has offered to help the Salem Police Department and was awaiting information about the case.

"At this point I really don't want to comment on the existence or status of an investigation," she said. "We are aware of an unlicensed kennel in the town of Somerville."

Worley declined to identify the kennel. She said in the past Somerville has had one state-licensed kennel, which did business as Star Fire Star, owned by Fern Clark of Hewett Road. Worley said Clark's kennel was licensed from 1994 to 2005 and inspected annually during that period.

She said Clark told the state she had not renewed the license because she was no longer breeding dogs. Worley declined to comment on the results of state inspections at Clark's kennel while it was licensed.

"That's all part of the investigation," she said.

Clark has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment.

The town of Somerville's animal control officer, Jessie Turner, said that he and a state animal welfare officer tried to inspect Clark's kennel last May. He said Clark refused to allow the state officer onto her property, but that he was permitted to enter the house.

Turner said Clark had 51 dogs, all of them small breeds, inside the house. He said there was a fenced exercise area outside but no separate outbuildings for housing the dogs.

Turner, a logging contractor who also serves as Somerville's road commissioner, said Clark has a record of conflict with state animal welfare officials. "They've mixed words over the years," he said. "She didn't want to comply with what the state had asked her." Despite those problems, Turner said he didn't have any serious concerns with Clark's operation, and he recommended that the Somerville town clerk issue the kennel a local license.

"You can't deny it if they meet the guidelines, and they met the guidelines," he said. The guidelines, Turner said, are based on standards recommended by the state animal welfare office.

The Somerville town clerk, Ernestine Peaslee, said she issued a kennel license to Clark last year. She said Clark signed the license and wrote, "I certify that the dogs in this kennel are kept for pets and some breeding." The license expired on Dec. 31 and must be renewed by Jan. 31, Peaslee said.

Turner said he was unaware of the incident in New Hampshire, and the statement by Moolic, the woman with the dogs in her car, that she had rescued animals from a puppy mill in Somerville.

Police arrested Moolic on charges of disorderly conduct and interfering with a police officer, after contending that she became agitated and belligerent while being questioned. She was released after posting $500 bail on the charges, which are misdemeanors.

She has not been charged with animal cruelty, although police have said that is still a possibility.

Officers said the dogs in Moolic's Jeep Cherokee were mostly small breeds -- including Chihuahuas, Shih Tzus and Lhasa apsos -- and were confined in cages with three to five dogs in each.

An officer at the scene stated that conditions inside the car were terrible. "They were all shaking and scared," he said of the dogs. "They were all in tough condition."

Ten of the 22 dogs belonged to Moolic, who told police she had taken them with her for the drive to Somerville, a 320-mile round trip that would take six hours to complete. It was unclear whether the three dead dogs -- an adult female and two puppies -- belonged to Moolic or were among those she said she picked up in Somerville.

The arrest took place in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart, where a customer called police after overhearing Moolic and a companion talking about dead dogs in their car while they shopped in the pet medicine aisle.

All of the dogs were taken into protective custody and were being held at the Salem Animal Rescue League. Police said Moolic may be able to reclaim some of the animals.

For Worley, Maine's animal welfare director, the Somerville case marks the second time in five months that the state has become involved with an alleged puppymill. Last August, 249 dogs were seized at J'Aime Kennel in Buxton after an investigation by state and local officials found that animals were living in unsanitary conditions. The dogs were taken by the state, and animal refuges are still seeking homes for many of them.

Update 1/31/08:  Clark has been charged with five felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty for her treatment of four dogs and a cat.

Fern Clark appeared in court with her son, Matthew Clark of Somerville, for a hearing to determine whether she could regain custody of the animals.

The five animals were among 66 dogs, 4 cats and a bird that were seized by state officials at Clark's home Jan. 19.

The charges were based on evidence found during the raid that suggested cruelty to five animals. The charges were filed by the Lincoln County District Attorney's Office.

State veterinarian Chris Fraser provided findings to support the cruelty charges, including necropsies of two dead dogs that Fraser said were found in Clark's freezer. One died of mammary cancer, she said, and the other died of an infection. Two of the five animals in question had periodontal disease, and the cat had oral ulcers.

Judge Ralph Tucker suspended the hearing after questioning Clark's representation. ''I don't think you understand the charges pending against you,'' he told Clark when she took the stand to say why she deserved to have the animals returned to her.  ''I think you need to have legal counsel before proceeding with this hearing. I'm talking about five felony charges,'' the judge said.

Clark, appearing unkempt and feisty, demanded to speak in her own defense.   "I never hurt my dogs," she told the judge.  "I never meant to hurt my dogs, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar. I was not breeding (the animals) and I was not a puppymill."

Tucker ruled that the animals, which are in shelters in the Portland area and Boothbay Harbor, will remain in state custody for now.

Clark posted $1,000 unsecured bail with conditions that she may not keep animals and that her home is subject to random searches. Aggravated animal cruelty is punishable by as much as five years in prison and a $5,000 fine for each count.

Clark is next scheduled to appear in court on the criminal charges April 8.

Update 2/18/08:  Two women once interested in buying puppies from a Somerville woman accused of animal cruelty are asking why the state did not act when they voiced concerns about the facility years before it was raided.

The Animal Welfare Program, a state agency within the Maine Department of Agriculture, has responded, saying until a month ago, it lacked enough evidence to search the alleged "puppymill."

Jessica Andrews, formerly of Belfast, and Linda Moody-Terrell, of Farmingdale, both say they filed complaints with the state in 2005 after being inside Clark's home, and seeing some of the conditions animals there were facing. They said they told state officials Clark displayed behavior that aroused their suspicions that something was amiss.

Animal Welfare Program Director Norma Worley has said that although complaints were lodged against Clark, the state lacked physical proof of neglect and abuse. Also, Clark no longer held a state license at the time of Andrews' and Moody-Terrell's complaints, Worley said, which legally barred state officials from entering the home.  "We just can't go around banging down people's doors," Worley said. "We can't use hearsay, and that's about 90 percent of what we were getting."

Andrews, who now lives in Boston, said in the summer of 2005 she and her mother went to Clark's home because Andrews was interested in buying a Chihuahua. "My mother and I arrived at her house and were only allowed in the basement, where we saw dog feces and heard a man upstairs hollering loudly at the dogs to stop barking," Andrews said, in an e-mail to the Kennebec Journal.

Andrews said she filed a complaint against Clark with state officials soon after leaving the house. Worley, who said the department has received at least seven formal complaints against Clark since 2002, said Andrews' testimony mirrored several others, but that was also part of the problem. "We need people who have been inside (Clark's house) to talk to us," Worley said. "Because these people didn't go upstairs and physically see it, we couldn't do anything."

Moody-Terrell, who said she visited Clark's home in February 2005 also with the intention of buying a Chihuahua, said she saw the conditions on the upper floor of the home, was repulsed by them, and detailed what she saw in a letter to the state a few days later.  "I was walking into something that I had no idea about," Moody-Terrell said. "(It was) the most horrific display of animal confinement I have ever seen in my life."

Moody-Terrell said Clark allowed her, her brother, Richard Moody, and her adult son, Aaron Hall, to go upstairs where the animals were kept.  The Farmingdale woman said she encountered "cats everywhere. They weren't in a cage, but rather let loose in a room."

In the kitchen, Moody-Terrell said, were stacks of "rabbit-hutch cages with puppies in them. There were two or three to a cage, and the cages were just one on top of another."

There was a pen just off the kitchen with "about 20 adult dogs that were loose," she added, saying there were more hutch-like cages with puppies in another room, and she could hear the puppies barking incessantly.  "The smell was eye watering," Moody-Terrell said. "I'm not kidding you, it was that bad. The floor was slick with feces and urine.

The animals themselves, she said, looked "so pathetic, it was disturbing. There, dogs sulked to the back of their dirty confines whenever (someone) reached in for them," Moody-Terrell said in her letter. She left after 45 minutes, empty-handed. "Leaving was the hardest part, actually," Moody-Terrell said. "I felt like I should have maybe, I don't know, told her off or something. I wanted to say, 'How could you?' "

Moody-Terrell's complaint was assigned to former humane investigator Tom Eddy, who is no longer employed with the Animal Welfare Program. Worley has said the state needed tangible evidence of neglect and abuse.

"We haven't ignored any cases but we need evidence these things are happening," Worley said, adding that some complaints received could be several years old. "We cannot break down someone's door."

Moolic's arrest, Worley said, was key because it gave state officials proof there was a recent transaction between Moolic and Clark regarding the animals.

Update 7/6/08:  A dog breeder recently accused of aggravated animal cruelty had her home raided, animals seized and faced similar criminal charges 14 years ago, at a time when she was not licensed to breed or kennel animals, state records show.

Fern Clark was acquitted in 1994 of animal cruelty charges but she was convicted of misdemeanor assault of a state animal welfare agent who was in the process of investigating complaints against her.

Documents from the Animal Welfare Program show that the department knew of Clark's previous encounter with state animal-welfare agents and her former arrest.

The documents show 14 complaints were filed about Clark's business from 1997 to 2007. Records show that the kennel licenses Clark needed to keep animals on her property were given to her by the town from at least 2004 to 2006 without mandatory inspections.

Animal Welfare Program Director Norma Worley acknowledged that some people have been critical of how her office has handled Clark's operation.

Worley said the office moved carefully with the Clark case and, as a result, Clark faces five felony charges related to animal cruelty. If convicted, she could face up to 25 years in prison and/or up to $25,000 in fines.  "This is a felony case, and that is one of the reasons we didn't want to rush judgment on (the situation)," Worley said.  ?I am confident in our case.?

In the weeks after Clark's 1994 animal-cruelty acquittal and assault conviction, records show she applied for a breeding kennel license - allowing her to legally breed and sell animals.

Since Star Fire Star's inception, the Animal Welfare Program has placed 14 complaints about it on file, twice as many as officials said they had on file after Clark's January 2008 arrest.

The complaints, which start in 1997, range from Clark allegedly passing off pups as purebred when they were not, to "filthy conditions," to accusations that she was selling animals with diseases, worms and fleas.

In a January interview, Worley said seven complaints from 2002 were on file against Clark. An additional seven, from 1997 to 2001, were found in state records obtained through Freedom of Access requests.

The complaint inspection records indicated Clark's home met conditions for operating a breeding kennel where animals could be sold.

Breeders must have a breeding license from the Animal Welfare Program if they sell more than 16 puppies in a 12-month period. Kennel owners need municipality-issued licenses.

A municipal license can only be issued after the town's animal-control officer inspects and improves the premises.

State and town records indicate Somerville town officials allowed Clark to renew her kennel licenses despite not having an inspection.

A November 2006 letter from Chris Fraser, the state veterinarian, to the Animal Welfare Program, detailed a complaint that Fraser had investigated against Star Fire Star. Fraser said the town's animal-control officer, Jesse Turner, had not been allowed into the Clark house to inspect it.

When Turner was finally allowed on to Clark's property in May 2007, he said ''everything was met at the time.''

"(Fern Clark) told me the animals were her pets only," Turner said, a month after the January raid. "She wasn't using them for breeding."   Kennel licenses for the over 50 animals were approved.

Andrews Campbell, Clark's attorney, says state officials are trying to make the January raid "look worse than it is."

"The state is fast to charge a lot of people these days, and you just wonder what good this does anybody," he said.  "I don't see how it benefits society."

Update 7/17/08:   Clark will be in Superior Court in Bath for a hearing on motions related to her case.  She said state officials did not give her notice that they were going to enter her Hewitt Road home when they conducted a raid in January and seized 66 dogs, 4 cats and a bird.   "I did not receive the warrant in my hands when they come to take my dogs," she said Wednesday as she sat at her kitchen table.   "I was not at home. I had cleaned all the dogs, gave them food and water."  

Clark said those who conducted the raid also took personal items.  "They went into my room, stole my digital camera, took all the phone books and weekly planners, and left it a mess," she said.

Clark said Amy Moolic of Dracut, Mass., took nine dogs and was supposed to place them in good homes. The dogs that were found dead did not come from her kennel, she said.

She said she wants to get her animals back after the court proceedings are concluded.  "I got dogs I love very much, and I hope they don't hurt any one of them," she said.

District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said many of the issues raised by Clark will be decided by a judge.  "The judge is going to be asked whether there was legal basis to take the animals into custody," he said.  Whether a person must be physically present for authorities to conduct a search depends on the circumstance, he said.

Clark, who said she's had dogs for 35 years, also disputes accounts provided by two women who say they entered her home in February 2005 and found an "eye-watering" odor in the home and a floor "slick with feces and urine." 

Clark said she never allowed the two women in the upstairs of her home, where the animals were housed.  Further, she said any odor in the home can be attributed to flea spray, bleach and "odor ban" that is used to control smells. She said well-worn spots on her linoleum floor could be mistaken for feces.

Clark showed the cages where some of the dogs were kept.  In one room, Clark housed 19 dogs in cages stacked along the walls. She said the cages - which she described as 2 feet by 4 feet, 2 feet by 3 feet and 2 feet by 2 feet - were more than adequate for the small dogs she had.

"I'm going to fight them every step of the way, even if I have to take it to federal court and the Supreme Court," she said.

Update 9/16/08:  A judge has ruled that a search warrant used to conduct a raid on a Somerville dog breeder's home was valid.

Justice Andrew Horton said in a Sept. 12 ruling that officials from the state Animal Welfare Program and Lincoln County law enforcement "acted in good faith" and believed they were doing the right thing when they obtained a search warrant to enter the home of Fern Clark in January.

Officials seized 66 of Clark's animals in the raid - 61 dogs, 4 cats and a bird. Two of the dogs were found dead in a freezer, according to court documents.

Clark was charged with five felony counts of animal cruelty in January, days after state agents seized the animals. She now will stand trial on those charges.

At an Aug. 26 hearing, Horton heard testimony from state veterinarian Christine Fraser and Lincoln County Sheriff Lt. Rand Maker, who executed the warrant. He also listened to testimony from Matthew Clark, Fern Clark's son.

At the hearing, Fern Clark's attorney, Andrews Campbell, said the affidavit and search warrant did not provide enough evidence or a probable cause for entering her home Jan. 18.

Some of the complaints that the Animal Welfare Program received regarding Clark's kennels were based on reports from people who had not been allowed to see where the dogs were actually kept, Campbell argued, adding that there was no proof in those reports that Clark had done anything wrong.

In his ruling, Horton disagreed with the defense, saying Fraser and Maker "subjectively believed" they did the right thing seeking the warrant, which was reviewed by Maker and then-Lincoln County Assistant District Attorney Lisa Bogue before being approved by Justice Jonathan Hall.

Moreover, Horton said, Fraser's affidavit provided "some linkage" between some of Clark's kennel dogs and a Massachusetts woman, Amy Moolic, who was arrested in New Hampshire after claiming that 10 of 22 canines found in her car were "rescued" from the Clark house.

After examining the ruling, Campbell said that the overriding issue ought to be whether his client intentionally harmed the animals.  'There's no question she had too many animals, but she loved all of them," Campbell said of Clark.  "It's very hard when you have that many animals to know which ones have internal problems."

Lincoln County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright praised Horton's ruling to uphold the search warrant.  "We obviously agree with the judge's decision and stand by it," Wright said.

Clark's trial is scheduled to begin in December, although a date has not been set, Wright said. If convicted, she faces up to 25 years in prison and/or a $25,000 fine.

In 1994, Clark was acquitted on animal cruelty charges. The animals in that case were returned to her, state records show.

Update 10/28/08:  The Maine Supreme Judicial Court considered the case of 66 dogs, 4 cats and one bird seized in January from the Somerville home of Fern Clark .

The court, in arguments held at Cony High School in Augusta during its annual tour of state schools, heard Clark's attorney, Andrews Campbell, claim that the state violated Clark's rights.

Campbell said the state wrongly seized the animals on Jan. 18, denied Clark a hearing shortly after the seizure, and sought an impossibly large bond while court proceedings were under way. He wants the animals returned to her.

The state, represented by Lincoln County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright, said that the state acted properly and that the search warrant was aimed at seeking evidence of animal cruelty.

Wright told the seven justices that the animals are being kept at veterinary clinics and in foster care around the state, pending resolution of the case. He asked that the court uphold a district court ruling that gave possession of the animals to the state.

Campbell asked the court to overturn a ruling by a judge in Wiscasset District Court who found the search and seizure valid. Campbell also said that imposition of a $60,000 bond to appeal the case constitutes sale of justice, and denies an indigent client the right to petition and to equal protection.

A veterinarian for the State of Maine Animal Welfare Program, Christine Fraser, testified in the Wiscasset hearing that the Clark residence reeked of an "amazing smell of ammonia that just burned," that the floors were caked with dried feces and puddles of urine, and that the overall condition of the kennel and residence was unsanitary, according to a brief filed by Wright.

Fraser also said most of the animals showed signs of malnutrition, infection or parasites, and most had severe gum periodontal disease.

Campbell said that many of Clark's animals were old and that Clark had arranged for some of them to be treated for the periodontal problems.

The high court generally issues a written opinion several months after oral arguments.

Update 5/2/09:  The judge presiding over a Somerville kennel owner's animal cruelty trial twice expressed doubt about whether the state had proved felony charges.

"At this point, I would grant acquittal on the felony counts," Justice Andrew Horton said after 2 1/2 days of testimony in the nonjury trial. "I think the state's case is dubious on those five charges."

Horton denied defense attorney Andrews Campbell's request for acquittal, saying the prosecutor had provided enough evidence to convict Clark of all 16 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.

Horton said he will reserve an official ruling on the charges until after reviewing the evidence, including a videotape made by animal-welfare agents at the time the search warrant was executed.

Testimony concluded in the criminal case against Clark.  Closing arguments will be heard in mid- to late May or June, the judge said.

Standing and leaning over the rail in front of the witness chair, Clark identified photos of more than a dozen dogs seized from her home in January 2008.

The prosecutor gave them letters and numbers; Clark gave them names.

C-5 was Weasel; C-7 was Midnight, D-8 was Echo; C-13 was BamBam.  "That's Margo, a Chihuahua," Clark said. There were sisters, Tara and Tessa, then Nellie Belle, a 12- to 14-year-old Shih Tzu.  And Baby Duchess. "Baby Duchess slept in the bed with me every night," Clark said.

Yes, they had long toenails, Clark admitted. She needed someone to hold the animals so she could trim the nails.  And, yes, there were fleas.

"The fleas were bad; 2006 and 2007 were the worst years for fleas, and I've been raising animals for 35 years, " Clark said. "I did my best to control fleas."

Clark testified in her own defense after several family members testified she routinely cleaned the dog cages, mopped the floor and fed the aged dogs wet dog food and soft puppy food. Sometimes family and friends helped her with the work, they testified.

One son, David Clark of Waterville, said he gave his mother $60 a month to buy canned dog food.

Fern Clark denied being cruel to any animals, and said she was unaware most of them suffered from periodontal disease.  "I never even thought about checking their teeth," she said.

Clark took the witness stand eagerly, telling the judge, "I had an awful hard time keeping quiet."

She spoke loudly, holding a device to her ear to amplify sound so she could hear attorneys' questions.

Clark said many of her dogs were older. "I don't believe in killing a dog unless it's absolutely necessary and my veterinarian would say so," she said.

She said her animals were not in pain, and one dog who died in her arms ate well the previous night.

At the time of the raid, Clark said she was at a supermarket buying canned dog food because she had run out.

She ran a licensed breeding kennel until 2005. She stopped, she said, when the animals reached about eight years old. She had several "accidental litters" since then.

She also was licensed by Somerville to run a kennel and most recently was issued a license by the town on May 25, 2007, prior to the execution of the search warrant.

Testifying about the two dead dogs in the freezer, Clark said she stored them there until she could bury them in the dog yard in the spring.

The veterinarian for the state Animal Welfare Program testified again about the medical conditions afflicting animals seized from the home.

Dr. Christine Fraser said 40 of the 66 dogs seized had internal parasites and all had external parasites, some with severe flea dermatitis.

Fraser testified some animals were in extreme pain with bone infections, particularly those with periodontal disease.

Clark is free on bail, with conditions that ban her from possessing animals.

Campbell said psychologists and psychiatrists have diagnosed Clark as an "animal hoarder," who took in and cared for older small dogs, many of which were given to her by other people.

She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and not guilty by reason of diminished capacity.

Update 5/22/09:  A Maine judge has found Clark guilty of 15 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.

But Justice Andrew Horton suspended a series of jail sentences, suggesting Fern Clark was not deliberately cruel but instead was overwhelmed by the number of animals she had accumulated.

Clark's attorney, Andrews Campbell, had asked the judge to acquit Clark, saying a woman "who knows each animal by name and relates to each as her best friend, spending over half of her income on her animals each month," could not have meant to harm them.

Further Notes:  Our organization first heard about Fern Clark's breeding business, via a letter sent to us regarding the purchase of a kitten on March 4, 2001.  The kitten was purchased by Lisa Cartier & PJ Gruen of Newburyport, MA for $50.00.  The kitten named Tego was sick from the very beginning with an infected right eye.  Clark stated the kittens  parents were Jasmine, a Siamese and Big Foot, a Maine Coon, born on October 12, 2000.  The kitten was brought to a veterinarian in MA and diagnosed to have a severe upper-respiratory infection, conjunctivitis and worms.  The veterinarian stated the kitten was just 3 months old, not 5 months old as Clark indicated.  Clark indicated that the parents of the kitten were seen regularly at her veterinarian Dr. Buggia but when the office was contacted they indicated that the last time they had seen any of Clark's animals was in November 2000 for a dogs.

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