After the death of one horse and neglect to two other horses, a local woman has been arrested on multiple charges of animal cruelty, police said.

Karen Ann Fothergill, 56, of 10 Pine Tree Lane turned herself in to police. Police most recently charged her with one count of animal cruelty, alleging she failed to provide necessary dental work for her 26-year-old Paint horse, Cherokee.

The charge is in addition to four other animal cruelty charges in June that allege Fothergill did not provide necessary medical attention to Lucy, a 16-year-old Saddle bred horse, and Moondancer, a 12-year-old Percheron Morgan cross gelding.

Lucy died in March after her owner allegedly neglected to have her treated for serious stomach problems, according to Dale Childs, animal control officer for the Hampstead Police Department.  "The horse was in a lot of pain, and she had a horrific death," said Childs.

After Lucy died, Childs said, police seized the other two horses, Moondancer and Cherokee. Authorities then determined that Moondancer had been suffering from fibrotic myopathy without any treatment.

  (Photo courtesy of Andrew Wolfe, The Nashua Telegraph)

As a result, initial charges were brought against Fothergill in June.  Police filed the most recent charge, alleging that Fothergill did not provide proper dental treatment to Cherokee for several years. The dental problems were preventing the horse from being able to chew food and eat properly, according to Childs.

"These horses have been neglected," Childs said. "Animals need basic care, and they were not receiving it. It has caused them pain and suffering."

Childs said police tried to persuade Fothergill to relinquish the horses prior to any criminal charges being filed. But the owner was obsessed with keeping the animals even though she could not afford them, Childs said.

"This is a sign of the times. Some people cannot provide basic care for their animals right now," Childs said. "But the fact that you don't have money is not a defense. It is a sad situation."

Fothergill had her three horses boarded at several different places in the past 18 months, according to Childs. Although Fothergill rented the stalls, she was still responsible for providing food and medical care to the animals, Childs said, adding she allegedly did not provide veterinary services when they were requested by the stall owners.

This past summer, the horses were boarded at a Hampstead farm. The farm's owner noticed Lucy's failing health and alerted Fothergill several times, Childs said. The farm owner contacted the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to report the incident, but it was too late, and the horse did not survive, she said. A necropsy was never conducted on the animal.

Fothergill filed a petition in Merrimack District Court attempting to retrieve her horses, but the request was dismissed. Her attorney, Michael Iacopino of Brennan, Caron, Lenehan and Iacopino in Manchester, was recently assigned to the case.

Fothergill will be arraigned Oct. 4 in Plaistow District Court on the most recent cruelty charge, and all five charges will be heard at trial Nov. 1.

Update 11/28/10:  Although Fothergill was arrested in June on most of the animal cruelty charges, her case has not yet gone to court. A trial was originally scheduled for Nov. 1, but has been postponed until Feb. 3, according to a court clerk.

Update 5/25/11:  Animal cruelty charges against a local woman were dismissed by a judge in Plaistow District Court.

According to court officials, two charges against Fothergill were dismissed and two were not prosecuted during her trial on May 5, and the remaining charges were dismissed by Judge Sharon DeVries at the Plaistow District Court.

The charges were related to horses that Fothergill had kept on a farm in Hampstead, where the staff eventually contacted the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The animal rights group, in turn, called police, according to a Hampstead animal control officer who initiated the investigation.

That officer, Dale Childs, died April 2 before Fothergill’s case went to trial.

The charges allege Fothergill failed to provide medical treatment for three horses that she owned, one of which died as a result.

“This case was brought because the animal control officer was mad that a horse died. She was mad at the wrong person,” said Fothergill’s attorney, Michael J. Iacopino, of Manchester.

“This case was not properly investigated, researched or prepared by either the animal control officer or the Rockingham County attorney’s office,” Iacopino said.

“The dismissal of charges upon the state’s presentation of its evidence means that no reasonable trier of fact could have found Ms. Fothergill guilty of animal cruelty even if the evidence was considered in the light most favorable to the prosecution. While there are certainly real cases of animal cruelty that should be prosecuted, this was not one of them,“ Iacopino said.

After the charges were dismissed, Fothergill made an immediate motion for the return of her horses, Moondancer and Cherokee.

That motion was granted, and Fothergill was eventually able to retrieve her animals that had been seized and held by the state since March 2010.

Moondancer had put on weight while in state care, gaining nearly 300 pounds and Cherokee had lost significant weight, that the health of both horses was endangered, Fothergill alleged in a statement released through her attorney.  Fothergill also stated both horses require extensive hoof treatments.

The horse that died in Hampstead, Lucy, had succumbed to an apparent colic episode, Fothergill said.

The people caring for Lucy failed to call Fothergill’s emergency number or a veterinarian when the horse became sick, Fothergill said.

"While I am happy that the charges were dismissed, I am still devastated by the abuse of power exercised by the animal control officer and the state", said Fothergill, questioning how the Town of Hampstead could charge her with animal cruelty, take away her horses and then allegedly neglect them of the most basic dietary needs.

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