Police arrested a Lion's Camp Pride Way woman on multiple charges alleging she was negligent in caring for five horses.

Police have charged Shirley Patch, 56, of 1 Lion's Camp Pride Way, with 10 counts of cruelty to animals, a Class A misdemeanor. Chief Shawn Bernier said police made the arrest after a nearly two-week investigation.

The investigation began after neighbors complained about the animals being malnourished, he said.

Patch is charged with two counts of animal cruelty for each of the five animals she kept at her property. Bernier said Patch raised the horses for her personal use.

Two of the horses have already been removed from the property and are in the care of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Bernier said he expects the three other horses could be placed in the SPCA's care for rehabilitation

Police investigated the allegations with help from the SPCA. When they searched the residence, they found the horses in varying states of malnourishment, Bernier said.

"They're not being fed," he said. "There's no feed at the residence."

The horses had also never been looked at by a veterinarian, he said. Bernier indicated Patch said she has no money to care for the animals.

Patch was released on $5,000 personal recognizance. She is scheduled for arraignment in Rochester District Court on June 16 at 8:30 a.m.

Update 1/6/10:  Tonka and Swindle - a pair of horses seized from a New Durham home last year - are now locked in a custody battle between their owner and the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The NHSPCA is fighting to keep custody of the animals and asking a judge to order their owner, Shirley Patch , to pay $6,489 in boarding fees and medical expenses.

Patch was acquitted Nov. 24 in Rochester District Court on animal cruelty charges, after police twice investigated her for keeping malnourished horses, according to court documents and police reports.

Steve Sprowl, field services manager at the NHSCPA, said the animal cruelty charges against Patch were dismissed in court because the veterinarian expected to testify against her took another job in New York and was unavailable.

Patch has repeatedly denied there was anything wrong with her horses, according to police reports.

Lawyers for the NHSCPA filed a request in Rockingham County Superior Court to stop an order by district court Judge Susan Ashley to return the horses after the trial.

Superior Court Judge Diane Nicolosi will decide who should keep the animals after a hearing scheduled for next week.

Sprowl said Patch was asked to take better care of her horses, a mother and foal, before they were seized after a police investigation in May 2009.

Police described the horses as bony and malnourished when they were taken by animal rescue workers and police. A state veterinarian was called in to examine the animals before they were taken, police said.

Under state law, the agency can keep the horses while the boarding fees and medical expenses remain unpaid, according to Sprowl.

Update 2/18/10:  Patch has been allowed to take back two horses seized last year by the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after striking an agreement with the Stratham-based agency in court.

Patch's lawyer, Joachim Barth, responded to the request for court intervention by arguing the NHSCPA couldn't retain the animals because state law requires a criminal conviction to keep them from its owner.

Patch filed her own court motion agreeing to let representatives from the agency regularly inspect her horses on a monthly basis for the next six months.

The purpose of the visits will be to check if the horses are getting the proper amount of water, bedding, green hay and shelter, according to the agreement.

Judge John Lewis recently approved the agreement in Rockingham County Superior Court.

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